M&A Analyst

Project Manager Position (Sourcing, Evaluating and Running M&A Processes)

JOB DESCRIPTION: Kroll Capital is a Minneapolis-based Investment Bank providing M&A services to lower middle market businesses. The founder is a seasoned executive with decades of professional and entrepreneurial experience. We are an exciting organization where you can learn more about M&A, investing, entrepreneurship and the challenges of running a process. We are seeking a motivated intern to take a Project Manager position to assist with sourcing, evaluating and running M&A processes. This will be a paid position with extensive training, exposure and autonomy, and can provide letters of recommendation as well as introductions to our vast network of contacts in consulting firms, banks, other investment banks, industry, etc.

RESPONSIBILITIES: This is a demanding role, and as such we ask you to carefully read through the daily responsibilities. We have tried to be as honest as possible so there is no confusion as to what this job entails. The weighting of your assignments and responsibilities will be discussed with you during the interview process and based on your skills and interests. 1. Proprietary deal sourcing industry research: Finding and reading industry reports, news articles, etc. to understand how firms make money in an industry and what the most important trends are. The skill we want you to develop is to quickly synthesize a large amount of information and be able to identify the 3-4 most important factors that make a business successful in a given industry. Company research and selection: Many small businesses have a limited online presence. We want you to be able to dig deep and find out what makes a small business successful: What is their product? Who are their competitors? What differentiates them? Form a judgment and be able to tell us in 2-3 sentences why we would/would not want to approach them. Creating databases (of company contact information): There are thousands upon thousands of small businesses in the Upper Midwest. Before we can start asking whether they are a M&A target or not we need a systematic way of contacting them and keeping track of communication. This is an unglamorous, but essential task. CRM, Excel, Power Point and VBA programming skills are helpful, but there is no substitute for hard work and grit. Drafting letters/emails/calling business owners: Use industry and company research to draft letters of approach to business owners. Plan and implement emailing or mailing campaigns. Cold calling business owners: An experience many of the best business school students have never had, but one of the most important skills for any businessperson. We need a person who can call up a business owner, make a convincing pitch, and quickly ascertain if they are considering transition or exiting their business. Track performance and improve sourcing process: Develop metrics and track performance of the proprietary sourcing process. Analyze what factors yield better results and adapt sourcing process accordingly. Conduct web analytics and improve marketing tools (website / brochure / etc.). 2. Deal evaluation financial modeling and bench-marking: A skill sought by many leading finance companies but one we will teach you quickly. The intern will be expected to learn how to build basic spreadsheets to help analyze potential M&A opportunities and conduct company valuations. Drafting letters: Writing non-binding letters, gaining familiarity with legal terminology and deal structuring. Conducting company due-diligence and preparing deal summaries for M&A team. Synthesize industry, company, and financial modeling work into a 4-5 page document to brief team and potential M&A client. This is an indispensable skill for anyone wanting to work in finance.