USC Marshall School of Business MBAs earned the ACG Cup in a regional competition held Feb. 24 at the University of Southern California. USC Marshall defeated MBA teams representing prestigious schools like UCLA Anderson, Pepperdine, Claremont Graduate, LMU, UCI and UCSD.
The ACG Cup, sponsored by the Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego chapters of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), is an M&A case competition allows students to take their studies to use in a real-world case that challenges their knowledge.
Stephen Opper ’09, MBA/JD ’14, Ben Gilreath MBA ’14 and Christian Clayton MBA ’14 led Marshall to victory in a case that tasked them with evaluating strategic financial alternatives for a middle-market retail business.
“For the first round, we developed a proposal that accomplished the goals of the company while allowing the board to fulfill its fiduciary duty,” Opper explained. “The second round built upon the first by adding an additional set of facts. We explored and evaluated opportunities ranging from the status quo to an acquisition or leveraged buyout.”
The judges, comprised of professionals from L.A. and Orange County-based private equity firms, investment banks and debt providers, commented that not only were the team’s financial analytics on point, but also that they presented the data clearly and concisely.
“Stephen, Christian and Ben quickly showed that they were a strong contender to win the Southern California regional competition,” said lead judge Paul Hayama, Marshall alumnus and principal of Avante Mezzanine Partners and ACG school liaison, “by demonstrating their clear understanding of M&A strategy, executing a polished presentation and using strong technical and analytical skills. They worked extremely well as a team, and also impressively conveyed their individual insights when questioned by the experienced judging panel.”
