A record-setting 1,636 MBA students from 125 business schools participated in ACG Cup competitions over the course of the 2010-2011 academic year. The ACG Cup is an M&A case-study competition offered by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG). $213,850 in scholarships and awards were given to competition winners by 26 ACG chapters throughout the United States.
ACG members–all experienced mergers and acquisitions professionals–judge the competitions, which engage business school teams in business analysis, valuation and strategy development. The intense competitions provide feedback from real-world experts and link the next generation of top-tier business-school talent with potential M&A employers.
"The students participating in this competition are the future of the mergers and acquisitions industry," said Aric Hassel, ACG Cup committee co-chairperson, vice president, The Bank of Kentucky and member of ACG Cincinnati. "And if the results of this competition are any gauge of what is to come, their future is bright."
"This season of ACG Cup was the most competitive we’ve seen in the programs eight year history," said Lynn Sommer, ACG Cup committee co-chairperson, senior manager, Transaction Advisory Services, Ernst & Young and member of ACG New York. "With more chapters and business schools involved year after year, the ACG Cup competition is the fastest growing MBA competitions out there."
"MBA student participation and scholarship awards set new records this year" said Gary A, LaBranche, FASAE, CAE, ACG president and CEO. "Such growth shows the value that ACG members are bringing to business schools and students. ACG members are proud to invest in the growth and development of the next generation of M&A professionals."
Congratulations to the ACG Cup 2011 winning schools and teams, including our own University of St. Thomas — Opus College of Business team:
- Kyle Jorgenson
- Ted Long
- Gurkan Peksoz
- Bhakti Raicha
- Brett Wong
This year’s case study was provided by Houlihan Lokey and was housed on a datasite provided by Merrill DataSite. Training the Street provided educational webinars for participants.
The ACG Cup has distributed nearly $500,000 in scholarships and awards since the first competition in 2004. While the financial rewards of the ACG Cup are noteworthy, the true value is the experience that students gain by interacting with middle-market M&A professionals and the advancement of team-building skills.
For more information about ACG Cup or ACG, please visit www.acg.org.
