by Jenessa Tumanda
Team Audeamus Associates of MSU-IIT’s Department of Accountancy was hailed as 1st Runner Up during the 1st Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Challenge sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers Philippines on November 21, 2016 at the Loft in Manansala Tower, Rockwell, Makati City. It also garnered the Best in Presentation and Best in Industry Analysis for automotive industry, and received a cash prize worth P50, 000.00. The team consisted of Robert Jayson Uy, Sittie Eiman Macmud, Jeffrey Hipayo and Jenessa Tumanda, all are fifth year BS Accountancy students, with their supervising coaches Jessa Mae Banse, CPA, Daisy Anacleto CPA, and Divina Gallardo, CPA.
The MSU-IIT team, that was in close competition with the champion The Blitzkrieg of Ateneo de Manila University, stunned the panel composed of PwC’s Chairman, Atty. Alex Cabrera, Vice Chairman Roderick Danao, Deals and Corporate Finance Managing Partner Mary Jade Divinagracia and PSE CEO Hans Sicat, when they delivered and defended their case analysis with confidence, hence awarded the best presenter. The Oultiers of Bicol University was awarded 2nd Runner Up.
The competition was a merger and acquisition simulation which consisted of three-level elimination and a final presentation. During the first level, 72 participating teams from various schools in the Philippines were tasked to select one industry among automotive, education, retail and pharmaceuticals, and to submit an industry analysis of the chosen industry. The best industry analysis for each industry was awarded during the final awards night. There were 22 teams that made it to the second level. In this level, the teams were tasked to find a target company, the mode of acquisition and the valuation of the target. Only 6 teams made the cut to the final presentation, The Blitzkrieg of ADMU, Audeamus Associates of MSU-IIT, The Outliers of Bicol University, and teams from the University of Cebu, De La Salle Univesity – Dasmariñas and Pamantasan ng Cabuyao. The competition lasted from September 13 to November 21, throughout which a webinar series was conducted to aid and provide additional inputs to the participants.
The main thrust of the said competition is to prepare the students to the actual work environment after graduation. As what Atty. Alex Cabrera had said in the Business Mirror, “So our purpose really in this competition is to bring the actual realities of business into schools; to help academe transform by bringing it real-life experiences to marry with the academic concepts; and, hopefully, after the students graduate, they will be better prepared in organizing the actual world of business by what they learn in school.”
The Department of Accountancy of MSU-IIT has been successful in molding students to be prepared for this kind of competition. It is noteworthy that for the past years, the department has sent students to similar events such as the CIMA Global Business Challenge of which the students’ performance was commendable. MSU-IIT ranked 2nd Runner Up in 2015 and 1st Runner Up in 2014. Aside from the cash prizes received by the students from this competition, they were also rewarded with Gestetner photocopying machines.