Investment Banking Case Studies with Model Answers
Full case studies with model answers, banker-formatted decks and Excel models
In this track
Mergers & Acquisitions
Sell-side and buy-side advisory cases: valuation, accretion/dilution, board materials and recommendation.
Project Meridian — Special Committee Take-Private
Sell-Side M&A / Special Committee
Project Ashgrove — Accretion/Dilution Test
Accretion/Dilution Modeling Test
Project Alderpoint — Sell-Side Process Launch
Sell-Side M&A / Process Launch
Project Dunmore — Fairness Opinion
Fairness Opinion / Board Materials
Project Harrowgate — Merger of Equals
Merger of Equals
Project Quillon — Full Merger Model & Competing Bid
Full Merger Model
Project Calderwood — Buy-Side Target Screen
Buy-Side M&A / Target Review
Project Ravenwood — Founder Sale, Buyer Selection
M&A Qualitative / Sell-Side
Project Brightmoor — Final Bid Evaluation
Sell-Side M&A / Final Bid Evaluation
Project Elmscroft — Strategic Alternatives Review
Strategic Alternatives Review
Project Foxglove — Controlling-Shareholder Squeeze-Out
Controlling-Shareholder Squeeze-Out
Project Umberline — Segment Carve-Out
Carve-Out / Divestiture
Project Ironvale — Run-Off Valuation & Management Buyout
Fairness Opinion / Management Buyout
Leveraged Buyouts
Sponsor-facing LBO analyses, ability-to-pay work and financing structures.
Project Wexbury — Sponsor Ability-to-Pay
Ability-to-Pay Analysis
Project Marlowe — Dual-Track: IPO vs. Sale
Dual-Track Exit Analysis
Project Orrington — Public-to-Private Feasibility
Take-Private Feasibility / Sponsor Client
Project Nettlebed — Sponsor-to-Sponsor Secondary Buyout
Secondary Buyout / Ability-to-Pay
Equity Capital Markets
IPO readiness and pricing, and the equity structuring that sits inside an M&A consideration mix.
Project Saltmarsh — IPO Readiness & Pricing
Equity Capital Markets / IPO
Project Rushmere — Consideration Structuring & Collars
Equity Capital Markets / Deal Structuring
Debt Capital Markets
Investment grade issuance, refinancings and the debt-versus-equity financing decision.
Project Pemberly — Investment Grade Bond Issuance
Debt Capital Markets / IG Issuance
Project Quarrystone — Refinancing & Capital Structure Review
Debt Capital Markets / Refinancing
Project Doverline — Debt vs. Equity for a Capex Program
Financing Decision / Capital Structure
Leveraged Finance
Financing feasibility for a sponsor buyout and the dividend recapitalizations that follow it.
Project Tarnbrook — LBO Financing Feasibility
Leveraged Finance / Financing Feasibility
Project Uplands — Dividend Recapitalization
Leveraged Finance / Dividend Recap
Restructuring & Special Situations
Distressed exchanges, liability management, recovery analysis and creditor negotiations.
Project Eastgate — Liability Management Exercise
Liability Management / Restructuring
Project Fernwood — Distressed Exchange Counterproposal
Distressed Exchange
Project Glenmoor — 13-Week Cash Flow & Financeability
Liquidity Forecast / Financeability Review
Project Hollowbrook — Recovery Analysis & Liquidation Waterfall
Recovery Analysis / Chapter 7 Comparison
Project Inglemoor — Chapter 11 Cleansing Materials
Chapter 11 Cleansing Materials
Project Jarrowfield — Section 363 Asset Sale
Distressed M&A / 363 Sale
Project Kirkstall — Emergence Capital Structure
Chapter 11 Emergence / Exit Financing
Project Larchmont — Covenant Compliance & Equity Cure
Covenant Analysis / Dual-Track Restructuring
Private Capital Advisory
GP-led and LP-led secondaries and continuation vehicles: pricing a portfolio against its own marks, and getting a GP liquidity without selling the asset.
Shareholder Advisory & Strategic Defense
Activist campaigns, unsolicited approaches and takeover defence: reading the vulnerability before the letter arrives, and advising a board on whether to fight, settle or pre-empt.
Project Thornbury — Activist Campaign Response
Shareholder Advisory / Activist Defense
Project Stonebrook — Unsolicited Approach & Defense
Takeover Defense / Board Materials
Financial Sponsors
Sponsor coverage work: who can actually fund a deal, what a fund already owns, and how a GP gets liquidity without selling.
Kelvingate — Sponsor Portfolio & Position Review
Sponsor Client Portfolio Review
Project Sandalwood — Sponsor Capacity & Sources of Funding
Financial Sponsors / Buyer Capacity Screen
Structured Finance
Securitization mandates, where the structure itself is the product and the cash flow waterfall is the analysis.
Corporate Derivatives
Hedging mandates for rate, currency and equity exposure, where the trade is priced against the risk it is bought to remove.
Project Yarnton — Cross-Currency Hedging Program
Corporate Derivatives / FX Risk Management
Project Ashcombe — Rate Hedging & Accelerated Buyback
Corporate Derivatives / Rate & Equity Derivatives
Energy, Power & Natural Resources
Reserves, generation assets and mine plans. Value is built asset by asset off a technical report or a yield, not off an EBITDA multiple.
Project Ottermere — E&P Net Asset Value
Energy / E&P Net Asset Value
Project Pennmoor — Midstream Buy-In & Yield Capitalization
Energy / Midstream MLP Buy-In
Project Quennell — Solar Take-Private & Sum-of-the-Parts
Renewables / Cross-Border Take-Private
Project Blackfern — Mining Net Asset Value
Natural Resources / Mining Valuation
Real Assets & Infrastructure
Hotels, resorts, concessions and leased equipment: businesses valued at a cap rate, on a book of assets, or on the cash a concession is contracted to produce.
Project Brentmoor — Aircraft Lessor Valuation
Transportation Finance / Strategic Alternatives
Project Havermore — Availability-Payment Concession
Infrastructure / Concession Financing
Project Drumlin — Lodging Asset-Level Valuation
Real Estate & Lodging / Strategic Alternatives
Project Eskmont — Casino Resort Take-Private
Gaming & Lodging / Special Committee Take-Private
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Biotech, biopharma and health IT, where a failed readout can make the balance sheet worth more than the pipeline and the peer set has to be cohorted.
Project Talara — Dissolution vs. Cash Tender
Healthcare / Biotech Strategic Alternatives
Project Uplandcare — Biopharma Strategic Alternatives
Healthcare / Biopharma Strategic Alternatives
Project Vantrell — Healthcare IT Valuation
Healthcare IT / Special Committee Valuation
Technology
Software, internet and hardware franchises: growth regressions, subscriber cohorts and the strategic alternatives menu for a business the market has stopped paying for.
Project Elmore — Technology Hardware Strategic Alternatives
Technology Hardware / Strategic Alternatives
Project Fernpath — Software Valuation & Growth Regression
Software / Sell-Side Valuation
Project Giantsford — Online Gaming Cross-Border Fairness
Internet / Cross-Border Going-Private Fairness
Project Hallowell — Consumer Subscription Valuation
Consumer Internet / Sell-Side Valuation
Media & Telecom
Spectrum, content accounting and out-of-home advertising — sectors where the industry's own unit of value replaces the comparable companies page.
Project Wyndmere — Spectrum Valuation & Minority Squeeze-Out
Telecom / Spectrum Squeeze-Out
Project Aurendale — Premium Network Valuation
Media / Premium Networks Board Materials
Project Corranmore — Out-of-Home Advertising Fairness Opinion
Media / Cross-Border Going-Private Fairness
Financial Institutions
Insurers, asset managers and wealth platforms. Dividends, book value and structural claims drive the answer; EBITDA never appears.
Project Quailridge — Insurer Dividend Discount Valuation
FIG / Insurance Take-Private
Project Rothwell — Up-C Structure & Tax Receivable Agreement
FIG / Wealth Management Fairness Opinion
Consumer & Retail
Retail and consumer brands, where store-level economics and comparable sales are valuation inputs rather than background.
Industrials
Chemicals and manufacturing, where input cost curves and plant economics drive the earnings the price is struck on.
Modeled After Real Mandates
Each case follows the structure and exhibit set that firm's work is known for — for some, the format of a transaction; for others, the exercise the firm is reported to set. Every case names its basis. The companies, financials and terms are entirely our own.
About Investment Banking Case Studies
Practice the case studies investment banks actually give. Every one includes the prompt, the supporting materials and an audio walkthrough of how to approach it; most also ship a complete answer deck and a linked, tied-out Excel model, and each case says on its own card exactly what it ships.
Full Model Answers
Banker-formatted decks and written recommendations
Tied-Out Excel
Linked models you can open and rebuild
Audio Walkthroughs
How to approach each case under time pressure
200K+ students have used IB Vine to help land offers at top firms.
Moelis & Co.
“I loved IB Vine. I’m going into Private Capital Advisory (PCA); you have the lessons on there for PCA and that was actually a game changer. I went into those interviews and knew about the core PCA concepts like net asset value, primary fundraising vs. secondary advisory, etc. I swear I was on IB Vine like a few hours a day. The opportunity to have that learning section and go through the questions people submit and everything — there’s no better tool out there. I loved the guides/lessons. The user interface is amazing. The way you’ve simplified it is so spectacular — it’s just so much easier to digest. It’s fun to use too; I’d rather use IB Vine than scroll through a guide. To be honest, I think the product is perfect. I genuinely owe you a big thanks.”
Moelis & Co.
“IB Vine is a tool we really love to use in the club I’m a part of, and there’s really no other resource like it. You guys do a phenomenal job with the question bank. I recruited specifically for Energy banking, and IB Vine was my most used resource for generalist questions (which were about 50% of my interview questions; the rest being Energy-specific); the majority of such questions I saw in interviews were at least similar (if not the same) to the ones on IB Vine.”
Perella Weinberg
“Once I read through the BIWS learning guides, I really didn’t refer to them again. I didn’t even really run through the 400 question guide once I found IB Vine, which I heard about through one of my classmates. We even get a free subscription (like most business schools) to Wall Street Prep, and if I’m being completely honest, I never even logged in to WSP. IB Vine is pretty much the only tool I used (along with our club question bank & mock interviews with peers) and it was invaluable for recruiting.”
Cantor Fitzgerald
“What a platform, made such a huge difference. I did superdays at Evercore, PJT, M. Klein and Barclays among others from a non-target school and did not miss a single technical in any interview process through prepping with IB Vine.”
Barclays
“Very accurate questions and all of the solutions are easy to follow. At least 10 of the questions I studied through this platform appeared in my Round 1 or Superday interviews.”
TD Securities
“THANK YOU SO MUCH IB VINE, I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT YOU, SERIOUSLY!!! IB Vine was the best website ever. I spent at least two hours on this daily (seriously) from October through I get my offer in February.”
Citadel
“I’m doing public equities this summer and next. I know the name is “IB Vine” but at the undergrad level a lot of the technicals across public equities are the same as investment banking. I recommend your software to all my friends!”
Piper Sandler
“I loved this site! 1000% this is the best resource I used in the process.”
Lazard
“This was the greatest tool ever. I genuinely enjoyed running through the technicals/behaviorals and it was very helpful!”
Houlihan Lokey
“IB Vine was the most helpful resource I had during recruiting. I will continue to promote it to other students at WashU and elsewhere.”
Jefferies
“Awesome product, helped me crush my technicals in my interviews and land a great role. Thank you, seriously was a huge help.”
Morgan Stanley
“Very helpful to get real-life questions unlike the 400 guide, especially for merger math. Built deeper understanding of key concepts.”
Houlihan Lokey
“Extremely helpful study tool that carried me through the recruitment process from start to end.”
Evercore
“You guys are doing great work over there with IB Vine. Absolute staple for interview prep.”
Rothschild
“IB Vine was incredibly helpful and I am forever thankful for all the help.”
RBC
“IB Mock was amazing - I used it for multiple hours. Also the flashcards and the lessons features on IB Vine were fantastic. Thank you!”
Dragoneer
“IB Vine is such a great platform, really impressive. There is so much value in this. The audio podcasts / mock interview library are pretty incredible.”
Case Study Preparation
Explore All Case Studies
100+ case studies, each with the full prompt, supporting materials and an audio walkthrough; most also ship a model answer deck and a tied-out Excel model.
Every case has a public page like this one. The member library is the signed-in index members work through.