First Step to Final Offer 3/10/26

Author

Brooks Gammill
March 10, 2026

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

Class of 2028 Finance and Consulting Opportunities

  • Fifth Third Bank Summer 2027 Intern CIB - Multiple Roles, Industries, and Locations Link

  • Capstone Partners Summer Investment Banking 2027 Internship Link

  • Rabobank Group 2027 Corporate Finance Summer Intern Analyst Link

  • Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. 2027 Investment Banking Summer Internship - Multiple Roles and Locations Link

  • CIFC Asset Management Summer Intern 2027 Link

  • Millennium Management LLC Millennium Investment Internship 2027, New York Link

  • General Atlantic 2027 Summer Analyst, Class of 2028, Capital Solutions Link

  • General Atlantic 2027 Summer Analyst, Class of 2028, Growth Acceleration Link

  • Lloyds Bank 2027 Summer Analyst Program Link

  • Guggenheim Partners 2027 Guggenheim Securities Investment Banking Summer Analyst – New York Private Capital Markets Link

  • Citi Banking - US, 2027 Summer Analyst - Multiple Roles and Locations Link 

  • BNP Paribas 2027 – Summer Analyst Internship - Multiple Roles, Industries, and Locations Link

  • Starwood Capital Group 2027 Summer Analyst - Multiple Roles, Industries, and Locations Link

To see c/o 2028 opportunities, click here: Class of 2028 Application Tracker

Class of 2027 Finance and Consulting Opportunities

  • Fifth Third Bank Commercial Middle Market Program Summer 2026 INTERN - Dallas Link

  • Apollo Global Management 2027 Analyst, FIG NY Link

  • The Carlyle Group Analyst, ABF Asset Management Link

  • Insight Partners 2027 Onsite Diligence & Growth Strategy Analyst Link

  • Insight Partners 2027 Full Time Investment Analyst Link

  • General Atlantic 2026 Summer Analyst, Class of 2027, Portfolio Human Capital Link

  • Capstone Summer 2026 Risk Internship Link


    To see c/o 2027 opportunities, click here: Class of 2027 Application Tracker

TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

A company has 100 shares outstanding, and its current share price is $10.00. It also has 10 options outstanding at an exercise price of $5.00 each. What is its Diluted Equity Value?

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MARKET NEWS

Goldman Offers Hedge Funds New Ways to Short Corporate Loans

Goldman Sachs has been discussing trade structures with hedge funds that want to profit from declines in corporate loan prices, especially in software-related debt facing fresh pressure from the rise of AI. The proposed approach uses total return swaps, a derivative that can give investors downside exposure without directly trading the loans themselves. Interest has grown because the leveraged loan market has become large, but practical ways to short it remain limited and often lack precision. Goldman has reportedly been sounding out select clients rather than broadly promoting the idea, highlighting both rising hedge fund demand and the sensitivity of facilitating bearish trades in a market where banks also help finance issuers. Further, appetite for these trades has been building since last year, when Apollo Global Management successfully bet against loans tied to software companies.

Source: Financial Times

BlackRock’s Retail Private-Credit Push Faces a Reality Check

BlackRock’s effort to bring private credit to a broader base of wealthy and retirement-focused investors has hit turbulence after HPS Investment Partners, which it acquired for $12 billion, limited withdrawals from its flagship $26 billion non-traded direct-lending fund. Investors had requested about $1.2 billion back, and the firm returned only roughly half, forcing the remainder to wait for a later tender offer. The development comes as strain builds across the $1.8 trillion private-credit market, where concerns are growing that underwriting standards weakened during the boom and that retail clients may be underestimating the illiquidity and risks of these products. Despite the pressure, BlackRock and HPS continue to frame the volatility as a long-term opportunity, pointing to the fund’s 10.7% annualized net return since launch and to BlackRock’s broader ambition to expand private credit through new wealth products and retirement offerings.

Source: Bloomberg

M&A DEAL OVERVIEW

Advent Explores Potential Exit for Naval Defense Business

Private-equity firm Advent International is assessing a possible sale of Ultra Maritime, a naval defense company that could be valued at more than £3 billion, or roughly $4 billion. The business makes anti-submarine warfare equipment such as sonar systems, sonobuoys and torpedo-defense technology used by navies across the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Advent has reportedly enlisted JPMorgan and Guggenheim to gauge buyer interest ahead of a possible sale process in the coming months, though talks are still early and no transaction is guaranteed. The interest in Ultra Maritime reflects stronger demand for defense assets tied to maritime security as geopolitical tensions continue to support military spending.

Source: Bloomberg

LAST WEEK TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER:

Correct Answer: B, It decreases the company's valuation due to higher discount rates — How does an increase in interest rates typically affect the valuation of a company?

Explanation: An increase in interest rates typically decreases a company’s valuation because higher rates raise the discount rate used to value future cash flows. In valuation models like a DCF, future cash flows are discounted back to the present using the company’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC), which increases when interest rates rise due to higher borrowing costs and higher required returns from investors. As the discount rate increases, the present value of those future cash flows falls, leading to a lower overall company valuation.