London Business School Coller Institute of Private Equity

LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS WIN WHARTON PRIVATE EQUITY COMPETITION

On the weekend of 19 and 20 February, a team of London Business School students won the annual Wharton Private Equity Competition. The team of James O' Gara, Matteo Luoni, Matteo Masi, Brandon Parry and Ryan Brewer (all MBA 2012) defeated 18 teams from other top business schools. These schools included Harvard, Chicago Booth, Columbia, Kellogg, and Wharton. 

A second London Business School team comprised of Benjamin Stretch, Andreas Lysdahl, Julian Suhren, Kunal Sinha and Alejandro Ortiz De Zevallos also performed very well, placing second in their group.

During the competition the teams had two days to evaluate a US video game retailer and decide if they would recommend a private equity buyout. This involved creating an investment thesis and analysing company and industry risks, deal structuring and valuation. The teams then presented their analysis to the judges and faced a 10 minute grilling, to be repeated again in the final round. 

James O’Gara says: “We were absolutely thrilled to come away with the victory at Wharton, especially against such high-quality competitors. We logged some long hours analysing the company and industry, but it was worth it to be prepared and able to support our investment thesis well. Effective teamwork was key, each team member brought a unique perspective to the case – a major advantage for London Business School in these competitions. We ultimately recommended against doing the deal, and it was very rewarding to see the judges respond positively to our argument. We also enjoyed meeting the other competitors, everyone had a good time and learned a great deal.”

This follows on the success of a team of London Business School students who won the European Private Equity competition in Rotterdam in October 2010. This team included James O'Gara, Matteo Luoni, Matteo Masi and Chris Steinbaugh.

These achievements exemplify London Business School's status as a world leading private equity school and further justify London Business School's ranking as the world's number 1 MBA.