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- First Step to Final Offer 11/4/25
First Step to Final Offer 11/4/25
Brooks Gammill
November 04, 2025
Your weekly round-up of an M&A deal walkthrough, insightful market news summaries, technical quiz questions, and various internships, events, and diversity programs. A key resource to best prepare yourself for finance recruiting. If someone sent you the newsletter subscribe below!
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
RecruitU Partner Opportunities
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Class of 2026 Finance and Consulting Opportunities
Class of 2027 Finance Opportunities
CIBC 2026 Summer Intern - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
General Atlantic 2026 Summer Analyst, Class of 2027 Link
KeyBank 2026 KBCM Investment Banking Summer Analyst - Cleveland, OH Link
Baird Internship – Private Wealth Management (Wausau, WI Summer 2026) Link
Houlihan Lokey Summer 2026 Financial Analyst (Class of 2027) - Portfolio Valuation and Fund Advisory Services - Multiple Locations Link
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2026 Global Private Bank Advisor Program (Summer Analyst) - US Private Bank Link
Bank of America Global Quantitative Data Analytics Summer 2026 Analyst - Global Risk Management Link
Citi Summer Analyst - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
Goldman Sachs 2026 Americas, Summer Analyst - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
Nomura 2026 Global Markets Summer Analyst Program – Rates eTrading Strats Link
Nomura 2026 Investment Banking Full-Time Analyst Program - New York Link
Piper Sandler 2026 Summer Internship Program - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
RBC Capital Markets First in Finance WM Internship Program, 2026 - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
To see c/o 2027 opportunities, click here: Class of 2027 Application Tracker
Class of 2028 Finance Opportunities
RBC Capital Markets 2027 Summer Analyst - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Let's say I could only look at 2 statements to assess a company's prospects - which 2 would I use and why? |
MARKET NEWS
Kimberly-Clark and Starbucks Deals Push M&A Market Toward $4 Trillion Milestone
A single day of dealmaking added over $80 billion in mergers and acquisitions, as Kimberly-Clark and Starbucks led a fresh wave of activity driving 2025 toward its second-best M&A year on record. Kimberly-Clark agreed to buy Kenvue Inc. for $40 billion, aiming to surpass Unilever as the second-largest global seller of health and wellness products. Meanwhile, Starbucks offloaded a majority stake in its China operations to Boyu Capital at a $4 billion valuation. These transactions helped bring global deal values to $3.8 trillion, up 38% year-over-year, with analysts crediting booming interest in AI and energy sectors, along with Wall Street’s renewed appetite for large-scale financing.
Source: Bloomberg
BofA Faces Investor Pressure to Accelerate Returns and Dealmaking Amid Lagging Performance
As Bank of America prepares for its first investor day in over a decade, CEO Brian Moynihan is under renewed pressure to close the gap with competitors JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Investors and analysts are calling for a more assertive growth strategy, particularly in investment banking and wealth management—two areas where BofA continues to underperform. In Q3, BofA reported a return on tangible equity of 15.4%, well below JPMorgan’s 20%. Analysts, including Wells Fargo’s Mike Mayo, argue that Moynihan’s cautious, post-crisis approach has limited the bank’s upside potential and urge a more opportunistic mindset to evaluate risk versus returns. Despite managing $6.4 trillion in total wealth assets, BofA still trails competitors in new asset growth and net flows.
Source: Reuters
M&A DEAL OVERVIEW
Goldman Sachs-backed Boyd Sells Thermal Division to Eaton in $9.5B Data Center Deal
Eaton Corporation has agreed to acquire Boyd Corporation’s thermal management business from Goldman Sachs Asset Management for $9.5 billion, in a move to expand its data center capabilities amid soaring demand driven by AI infrastructure. The acquisition, Eaton’s fourth this year, positions the company to lead in liquid cooling solutions—critical for energy-intensive data centers. Boyd Thermal expects $1.7 billion in sales by 2026, with most revenue from liquid cooling systems. The deal, expected to close in Q2 2026, comes after Goldman and China Investment Corp acquired Boyd in 2018 through a joint fund formed during Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.
Source: Reuters
LAST WEEK TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER:
Correct Answer: A, Yes — Could you ever end up with negative shareholders’ equity?
Explanation: Yes, a company can have negative shareholders’ equity if its liabilities exceed its assets—this can happen when it accumulates large losses over time, pays out more in dividends or share buybacks than it earns, or records significant write-downs that reduce retained earnings.