Investment Banking Presentations

The actual slide decks a financial advisor walks a board through. Going-private deals trigger Rule 13e-3, which forces the advisor’s presentation into the public record as an exhibit.

• $33B2006HCA going-private LBOMerrill Lynch’s actual board book for the biggest LBO of its era: base-case projections, buyout accretion, and how a sponsor frames a take-private price for directors.Merrill Lynch · SC 13E-3, Exhibit (c)(6)
• $2.4B2008Getty Images / Hellman & FriedmanGoldman’s going-private "discussion materials" for the board: strategic-buyer accretion work and the valuation ranges that set the price.Goldman Sachs · SC 13E-3, Exhibit (c)(5)
• $1.6B2013Dole Food take-private (Deutsche Bank)Deutsche Bank’s full valuation book for Dole’s special committee: comparable companies and precedent transactions in a controlling-shareholder buyout.Deutsche Bank · SC 13E-3, Exhibit (c)(2)
• $1.6B2013Dole Food take-private (Lazard)Lazard’s "Project Dolphin" fairness presentation: how a special-committee banker defends a price against the controlling shareholder’s low bid.Lazard (special committee) · SC 13E-3, Exhibit (c)(9)
• $3.7B2013Focus Media take-privateJ.P. Morgan’s discussion materials for a China take-private: DCF, comparable companies, and precedent transactions inside a Rule 13e-3 book.J.P. Morgan · SC 13E-3, Exhibit (c)(2)

Two sides of the same fight: how a target argues a hostile bid undervalues it, and how an activist argues the board should do something different — built to persuade, slide by slide.

• $5.9B2010Airgas defense vs. Air ProductsThe canonical hostile-defense deck: how bankers argue "the offer undervalues the company" through operating performance, earnings versus consensus, market share, and total shareholder return.Goldman Sachs · Bank of America · SC 14D9 exhibit
• $53B2014Allergan defense vs. Valeant/Pershing SquareA company’s own rebuttal deck, built on advisor analysis, arguing a hostile bid line by line rather than in a courtroom.Goldman Sachs · Bank of America Merrill Lynch · DEFA14A exhibit
• $2.1B2014Darden / Starboard ValueStarboard’s case against the $2.1B Red Lobster sale, built on sum-of-the-parts and sale-leaseback real-estate valuation to argue Darden was worth more in pieces.Starboard Value · DFAN14A exhibit
• $1.7B2015DuPont / Trian proxy fightTrian’s "Discussion Points" behind a $1.7B stake: margin benchmarking and a sum-of-the-parts thesis for breaking up a conglomerate.Trian Partners · DFAN14A exhibit
• $3.5B2017Procter & Gamble / Trian proxy fightTrian’s "Revitalize P&G" white paper — the deck behind the largest proxy fight ever by company size — built on operating benchmarks and TSR analysis for a $3.5B stake.Trian Partners · DFAN14A exhibit
• $117B2018Qualcomm defense vs. BroadcomQualcomm’s board defense deck against Broadcom’s $117B hostile bid: how a target argues an offer undervalues its 5G and NXP upside and carries regulatory risk.Qualcomm (board defense) · DEFA14A presentation

The “Background of the Merger” narrative and the fairness-opinion math behind a signed deal — comps, DCF, and premiums laid out for shareholders to vote on.

• $24.9B2013Dell going-privateThe "Background of the Merger" timeline — months of a special committee squeezing a founder-led bid higher, meeting by meeting.J.P. Morgan · Evercore (special committee) · DEFM14A
• $67B2016EMC / Dell-Silver Lake mergerA $67 billion fairness opinion where part of the consideration is a tracking stock that didn’t exist yet — valuation gymnastics at scale.Morgan Stanley · Evercore · DEFM14A
• $26.2B2016LinkedIn / MicrosoftA clean single-bidder tech sale: how fast "Background of the Merger" moves when there’s no auction and no leaks.Qatalyst Partners · DEFM14A
• $26.5B2018Sprint / T-MobileA joint S-4 with the whole street on the tombstone — how four-plus banks each get credited and paid on the same combination.PJT Partners · Goldman Sachs · Deutsche Bank · J.P. Morgan · Form S-4
• $55B2019Anadarko / Occidental vs. ChevronA textbook topping fight: a signed Chevron deal walked away from mid-process once Occidental’s higher offer forced the board’s hand.Evercore · Goldman Sachs · DEFM14A
• $44B2022Twitter / MuskA fairness opinion for a deal the buyer tried to walk away from — read it next to the litigation to see where the analysis held up.Goldman Sachs · J.P. Morgan · DEFM14A
• $68.7B2022Activision Blizzard / MicrosoftAllen & Company’s fairness opinion behind a $95.00-a-share sign-off: the DCF, selected-companies, and premiums-paid analyses in the biggest gaming deal.Allen & Company · DEFM14A
• $12.7B2022Zynga / Take-TwoGoldman’s fairness opinion on a cash-and-stock offer, and how a banker supports a board’s recommendation to sell.Goldman Sachs · DEFM14A
• $10.7B2022Anaplan / Thoma BravoDual fairness opinions from Goldman and Qatalyst on a software take-private, valued on revenue multiples and DCF.Goldman Sachs · Qatalyst Partners · DEFM14A
• $16.5B2022Citrix / Vista & ElliottQatalyst’s fairness opinion in a sponsor take-private: DCF, LTM and NTM multiples, and premium analysis on a mature software name.Qatalyst Partners · DEFM14A
• $28B2023Splunk / CiscoQatalyst’s fairness opinion for Cisco’s acquisition: how a high-growth SaaS target gets valued on revenue multiples and DCF to justify the price.Qatalyst Partners · Morgan Stanley · DEFM14A

When a distressed company negotiates with lenders under an NDA, disclosure rules eventually force the “cleansing” presentation into an 8-K. It’s the restructuring pitch in the open.

• $17.5B2020Frontier Communications restructuringFrontier’s creditor cleansing materials: a restructuring base case against a reinvestment case, the long-range projections lenders negotiate a plan around on a $17.5B debt load.Evercore · 8-K cleansing materials
• $2.3B2020Oasis Petroleum restructuringOasis Petroleum’s cleansing materials expose the confidential E&P model shared with creditors: EBITDA, free cash flow, and hedging behind $2.3B of debt.Oasis Petroleum · 8-K cleansing materials
• $5B2020California Resources restructuringCalifornia Resources’ cleansing materials lay out the reserve, cash-flow, and debt projections a distressed producer used to negotiate recoveries on $5B of debt.California Resources · 8-K cleansing materials
• $1.7B2020J.Crew restructuringJ.Crew’s lender cleansing presentation: the confidential turnaround projections a retailer disclosed to lift an NDA before filing Chapter 11 on $1.7B of debt.J.Crew Group · 8-K cleansing materials
• $2.6B2021Diamond Offshore restructuringDiamond Offshore’s cleansing materials show the going-concern projections a driller shared with lenders under NDA to reset a $2.6B capital structure.Diamond Offshore · 8-K cleansing materials