Tell me about a recent deal you've followed.

Pick a deal you know well and give the price, the multiple, the premium and how it's paid. Explain why the buyer wants the target and what the financing does to leverage, then give your own view and the risks you'd watch.

Updated October 20, 2026

Structure it with the STAR method template

The numbers, step by step

An invented deal, for illustration only: a $6 billion cash price for a target with $500 million of revenue and $100 million of EBITDA. The buyer has $6 billion of debt and $3 billion of EBITDA and adds $4 billion.

Price over revenue$6,000 ÷ $500

12 times

Price over EBITDA$6,000 ÷ $100

60 times

Buyer's leverage before$6 ÷ $3

2.0 times

Leverage after the deal($6 + $4) ÷ ($3 + $0.1)

about 3.2 times

What the interviewer listens for

• Do you give the price, the multiple, the premium and how it's paid?
• Do you explain why the buyer wants the target?
• Do you cover what the financing does to leverage?
• Do you have your own view, with risks to watch?

Common mistakes

• Picking a deal you can't explain past the headline.Expect questions on the multiple, the premium, the financing and the logic.
• Summarizing the announcement with no view on whether the deal makes sense.
• Mixing up the premium, which is over the target's share price, with the multiple, which is price over revenue or EBITDA.
• Stating advisors, fees or terms you aren't sure of.Say only what you've actually read.

Likely follow-ups

• How would you value the target?Trading comps of fast-growing software companies on EV to revenue, precedent deals in payments and security software, and a DCF, with synergies valued separately so you can see how much of the price depends on them.
• Would you have done the deal?Yes, but only if the buyer had a clear plan to sell the product to its existing merchants. Without that, 60 times EBITDA is too much.

More finance technicals

• What's the difference between an asset deal, a stock deal and a 338(h)(10) election?
• How does a buy-side M&A process work?
• How do you tell whether an acquisition is accretive or dilutive?
• Walk me through a merger model.
• What are synergies, and which kind would you trust more?

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