In February, a team of students from the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics reached the finals of the St. John’s Private Equity Pitch Competition.
The competition consisted of teams from 17 universities, including schools such as Binghamton University, University of Connecticut, University of Rochester and University of California, Berkeley, that competed in the initial round of the competition. After preliminary judging, UD was one of four teams that advanced to the final round, along with Cal, Rochester and St. John’s.
Teams were charged with identifying a leveraged buyout candidate in a take-private transaction and presenting their recommendation to a panel of industry experts, including executives from Blackstone and KKR.
The presentation included a leveraged buyout analysis, detailed financial modeling, industry and competitor analysis and a take-private investment recommendation.
UD’s team included senior finance major Evan Youssefi, sophomore finance and financial planning & wealth management double major Troy Hernandez, junior finance and financial planning & wealth management double major Daniel Ruiz Giraldo and freshman finance major Connor Scurti. The team, led by faculty advisor John Peruzzi, was able to identify a compelling investment opportunity and communicate its recommendation clearly and convincingly to the judges.