About the Course
This course teaches the analytical frameworks and tools necessary to successfully execute mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring. You will learn the concept, reasons for doing M&A., different types of transactions, value creation, organic growth, etc. You will learn why each party is involved, buyers, sellers, third party service providers, intermediaries, and capital providers. You will develop a strategic plan for M&A activity and analyze strategic alternative. Understand the M&A due diligence process and develop your due diligence skills, business valuation techniques. Learn how to best protect shareholder value during M&A, understand the use of M&A by large public corporations, privately-held middle-market firms, and private equity firms, learn a playbook of M&A best practices.
Learner Outcomes
Understand the fundamentals of mergers and acquisitions.
Explain key concepts and operations within the mergers and acquisitions market.
Pose insightful questions aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of effective strategies in mergers and acquisitions.
Prerequisites
ECON X499.1, ECON X499.2, and ECON X499.4 with a grade C or better.
Your Instructors
Pardis Nasseri
Dave Wolinsky
About the Instructors
Pardis Nasseri is a driven entrepreneur and the architect of Palm Tree, the modern M&A
advisor. The firm integrates investment banking with financial and operational consulting
services for private equity sponsors, business owners, and management teams. Over the
course of his career, Pardis has been personally involved in successful M&A transactions with
an aggregate value of over $30 billion.
Pardis began his career in M&A with the transaction services practice of PwC, as an investment
banker with Jefferies, and an investor with Platinum Equity. He founded Palm Tree in 2010 and
grew the firm from its roots as a boutique M&A consultancy to a nationwide enterprise offering a
suite of integrated financial services. The firm became a registered member of FINRA in 2020
and is led today by a team of accomplished managing directors who execute on engagements
worldwide.
The Los Angeles Times has recognized Pardis as a visionary leader who prepares
organizations for next-level growth, and The Los Angeles Business Journal has recognized
Pardis among the most influential private equity advisors in the nation. Pardis is an active
member of the Young Presidents Organization, where he serves on the board of its Santa
Barbara chapter. He is a recurring guest lecturer at the UCLA Anderson School of Management,
has served as a panelist at M&A and entrepreneurship events, and has moderated panels at the
annual ACG business conference.
Pardis graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a double major in
Business Economics and Philosophy and is an alumni of Harvard Business School (OPM 62).
He and his wife, Dr. Sherry Nasseri, reside in Montecito, California with their two children.
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David Wolinsky is responsible for advancing the continuing growth of Palm Tree by leading the firm’s internal and external talent acquisition and development efforts.
Mr. Wolinsky was a founding member of Palm Tree, joining when the firm was founded in 2010. Since its inception, he has applied his well-rounded experience and business acumen to the firm’s client engagements, year-on-year growth, and nationwide expansion. His ability to quickly analyze, uncover, and plan for business issues across industries has made him an asset to Palm Tree operations and client engagements alike. During Palm Tree’s expansion, Mr. Wolinsky was a primary author of its proprietary training program, combining aspects of his experience with transaction support, strategic finance, and investment banking. Mr. Wolinsky was also a creator of its recruiting strategies and core values.
With Palm Tree, Mr. Wolinsky has served as the interim Director of M&A and Operations for a multi-location healthcare organization, led strategic initiatives to foster client growth through acquisitions and operational improvements, and operations initiatives to improve working capital and operating margins.
Before joining Palm Tree, Mr. Wolinsky served as an investment banker with Jefferies in New York and San Francisco. Earlier in his career, he held positions with Goldman Sachs and Roxbury Capital.
Mr. Wolinsky graduated magna cum laude with dual BS degrees in Business Administration and Accounting from Villanova University.