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- First Step to Final Offer 8/12/25
First Step to Final Offer 8/12/25
Brooks Gammill
August 12, 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
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Class of 2026 Finance and Consulting Opportunities
Lazard 2026 Financial Advisory Full-Time Analyst – Shareholder Advisory and Activism Defense Link
Jefferies 2026 Investment Banking Analyst - Multiple Roles Link
Barclays Banking Analyst Graduate Program 2026 - Multiple Roles and Locations Link
Nomura Securities International 2026 Global Markets Full-Time Analyst Program Link
Kearney Kearney Business Analyst 2026 Link
Class of 2027 Finance Opportunities
To see c/o 2027 opportunities, click here: Class of 2027 Application Tracker
Class of 2028 Finance Opportunities
Nomura Securities International 2026 Corporate Finance Summer Analyst Program Link
TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Would you rather have $1,000,000 today or $100,000 every year into perpetuity? |
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MARKET NEWS
BlackRock, Vanguard, and JPMorgan Asset Management Tighten Grip on Europe
BlackRock, Vanguard, and JPMorgan Asset Management have cemented their dominance in Europe and the UK, with combined assets in the region reaching $4.9tn by May 2025—more than double a decade ago. Their rapid growth, fuelled by the popularity of low-cost tracker funds, has left local competitors struggling to keep pace, particularly in faster-growing areas like passive and private markets. Industry leaders warn that without the scale of their US counterparts, many mid-sized European firms could face a challenging future.
Source: Financial Times
Jefferies Imposes One-Year Non-Competes to Protect Advisory Talent
Jefferies Financial Group has introduced stricter temporary employment terms for its private capital advisory unit in 2025, aiming to deter rivals from luring away staff amid surging demand in the booming secondaries market. The revised contracts include year-long gardening leave for senior executives and require those joining competitors to repay bonuses, with participants receiving a financial incentive for accepting the policy. The move follows high-profile departures to Moelis & Co. and comes as the global secondary market sees a 51% jump in volume to $103 billion in the first half of the year.
Source: Bloomberg
M&A DEAL OVERVIEW
Cosco Targets Major Stake in $23B Panama Canal Ports Project
China’s state-owned shipping giant Cosco is pursuing a 20%–30% share in a $23 billion deal for key port assets in the Panama Canal, according to the Financial Times. The move comes as Beijing seeks to renegotiate terms of a transaction previously lauded by former U.S. President Donald Trump. The potential stake would give Cosco a significant foothold in a strategically vital trade route, though Reuters has not independently verified the report.
Source: Reuters
LAST WEEK TECHNICAL QUESTION OF THE WEEK ANSWER:
Correct Answer: C, Under cash accounting, the company does not record any revenue or receivables until cash is received; under accrual accounting, the company records revenue and accounts receivable immediately. — A company uses cash accounting rather than accrual accounting. A customer buys a TV from the company “on account” and receives the TV right away. How would the company record this transaction differently from a company that uses accrual accounting?
Explanation: Under cash accounting, the company would not record any revenue or receivable when the customer takes the TV on account—it would only record the sale when the customer actually pays. Under accrual accounting, however, the company would record revenue and an accounts receivable immediately upon delivering the TV, recognizing the income when earned rather than when cash is received.