Corporate Finance Analyst / M&A Analyst

Job Description

The M&A Analyst provides analytical and execution support across mergers and acquisitions (M&A), valuations, transaction advisory, and strategic corporate finance activities. The role supports Specialists and Associates throughout the transaction lifecycle and contributes to the delivery of high-quality corporate finance engagements

Qualification and Experience Minimum Qualifications

• B.com (Hons) Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field
• CA(SA) / CFA, or equivalent professional qualification will be advantageous.

EXPERIENCE:

Completion of articles / a 3 year graduate training programme, or a structured development programme within either of the ff areas:•

Audit firms, Advisory firms, Professional services firms, Private equity firms, Commercial banks, Investment banks, Financial institutions

Minimum relevant experience of 3 years' post articles / graduate training programme in:

• Corporate Finance, Transaction Advisory, Audit and Advisory, Valuations, Due Diligence, Transaction Services, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Financial Services, Financial statement analysis, Budgeting and forecasting, Commercial and business performance analysis, Transaction-related assessments and reporting, Investment case preparation, Presentation development

Transaction & Deal Execution

• Experience supporting end-to-end M&A transactions, including sell-side, divestiture, and strategic advisory engagements.
• Experience assisting with transaction execution, workstream coordination, process management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Exposure to due diligence processes, including data room management, information request tracking, risk identification, and issue escalation.
• Experience working with internal stakeholders and external advisors, including legal, tax, accounting, commercial, and technical specialists.

Financial Modelling & Valuation

• Experience developing and maintaining financial models, including:
• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Models, Leveraged Buyout (LBO) Models, Merger Models, Scenario and Sensitivity Analysis, Accretion/Dilution Analysis
• Experience applying valuation methodologies, including:
• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Comparable Company Analysis, Precedent Transaction Analysis, Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) Valuation
• Experience preparing investment cases, transaction rationales, return analyses, synergy assessments, and value creation evaluations.

Financial Analysis Experience

• Experience analysing Financial Statements, Management Accounts, Budgets and Forecasts, Working Capital Requirements, Capital Structures, Debt Capacity, Commercial and Operational Drivers, Transaction-related Financial Information
• Ability to assess financial performance, identify key risks, and support transaction recommendations. Research & Market Analysis Experience
• Experience conducting Industry Research, Company Research, Competitor Analysis, Market and Sector Analysis, Regulatory and Economic Research
• Ability to synthesise findings and translate insights into transaction and strategic recommendations.

Investment Marketing & Presentation Development

• Experience preparing Pitch Books, Teasers, Information Memoranda, Valuation Reports, Investment Papers, Client Presentations, Board and Management Materials
• Demonstrated ability to prepare high-quality client-facing materials that communicate transaction outcomes, risks, opportunities, and recommendations clearly and professionally.

Additional Advantageous Experience

• Exposure to multinational organisations, complex group structures, international secondments, or cross-border transactions.
• Experience operating in fast-paced, deadline-driven transaction environments while managing multiple workstreams simultaneously

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

Research & Market Analysis Experience

Roles and Responsibilities

• The key functions of the position include:

Financial / Shareholder Returns

• Mergers & Acquisition - Support end-to-end M&A transactions, including sell-side, divestiture, and strategic advisory mandates.
• Financial Models - Build, review, and maintain detailed financial models, including DCF, LBO, merger, scenario, sensitivity, and accretion/dilution analyses.
• Valuation - Perform valuation work using discounted cash flow, comparable company, precedent transaction, and sum-of-the-parts methodologies.
• Build Investment Case - Assist with building investment cases, transaction rationale, synergy assessments, returns analysis, and value-creation opportunities.
• Financial Analysis - Analyse financial statements, management accounts, forecasts, working capital trends, debt capacity, and key business drivers to support transaction recommendations.

Internal / Operational Processes

• Investment Marketing Material - Prepare pitch books, teasers, information memoranda, valuation reports, investment papers, and client presentations.
• Research - Conduct industry, company, competitor, market, and regulatory research to support divestiture, and strategic advisory
• Due Diligence - Participate in due diligence processes, including data room review, information request tracking, financial analysis, risk identification, and issue escalation.
• Deal Execution - Support transaction execution by preparing process documents, maintaining deal trackers, setting up & managing data rooms, coordinating workstreams, and managing deadlines.
• Manage Advisors - Work with internal teams and external advisors, including legal, tax, accounting, commercial, and technical advisers, to support seamless transaction delivery.
• Maintain Files & Documents - Maintain accurate deal files, research databases, financial model versions, and transaction documentation in line with governance requirements.

Customer Focus & Stakeholder Management

• Presentations - Prepare high-quality client-facing materials that clearly communicate valuation outcomes, deal considerations, risks, opportunities, and recommended next steps.

• Communication - Communicate analysis clearly and professionally to specialist, clients, management teams, and advisers.

• Meeting Preparations & Support - Support client engagements by preparing agendas, briefing notes, meeting packs, follow-up actions, and transaction status updates.

• Professionalism - Demonstrate discretion and professionalism when handling confidential transaction information and sensitive commercial data.

• Networking - Build effective working relationships with internal stakeholders and external parties to support timely and accurate transaction execution. Roles and Responsibilities (cont.) Learning & People Growth

• Self-Development - Manage own development to build deep technical capability in M&A execution, valuation, financial modelling, corporate finance, and transaction advisory. Stay informed on market developments, transaction trends, sector activity, and corporate finance best practice.

• Learning Ability - Learn quickly from specialist and apply feedback to improve analysis, judgement, presentation quality, and commercial insight.

• Initiative - Take ownership of allocated workstreams, deliver high-quality outputs under tight timelines, and proactively flag risks, assumptions, and dependencies.

• High Performance - Contribute to a high-performance team culture through resilience, responsiveness, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Job Requirements TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

• Advanced Excel and financial modelling capability.

• Scenario analysis and sensitivity modelling.

• Integrated financial model development and model validation.

• Financial and quantitative data analysis.

• Financial statement interpretation and analysis.

• Quality of earnings assessment.