8-4-2026 8:54
© [2026] Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.
This study material is protected by copyright under Dutch copyright laws. It is provided in the context of your study programme and is destined solely for your personal use. You are thus permitted to create a personal copy. You are not permitted to reproduce, distribute or otherwise make available to third parties any part(s) of this study material without prior written consent of the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Teaching block(s) | Block 5 |
Course load | 6 EC |
Coordinator |
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Teaching staff |
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Course activities | Lectures, Guest lectures |
Examination format | Written test, Assignment |
Mandatory attendance | Yes, see attendance rules |
Pre-requisites | No |
Schedule | Please check the most up-to-date schedule via timetables.eur.nl. |
See Canvas and introduction-session for details
Additional information:
Exchange messages via Email (weinrich@rsm.nl) and Canvas
Book meeting/office hours for consulting in-person and over the air meetings
We generally endorse RSM's AI policy on embraced usage of AI ("Embraced Use of GenAI"), which is currently available here: https://bedrijfskunde-services.rsm.nl/support/solutions/articles/80001152372-generative-ai-rsm-student-guidance
Use GenAI to enhance your ideas, not to generate content, ideas, solutions or the like. Discouraged use - and explicitly prohibited in assessment relevant deliveries - includes to directly prompt for problem solutions ("solve this problem set")
No use of GenAI in assessment: "Assessment - Exam"
This course integrates accounting, financial analysis, and governance, providing students with advanced skills in understanding, assessing, and executing a variety of different transaction types, such as M&A, reorganizations, and other complex deals. Since such transactions often substantially transform businesses, understanding how to analyze and navigate these disruptions is essential for any professional involved in them.
The course builds on foundational knowledge of accounting, financial analysis, and valuation. Its focus is on how (financial) information shapes decisions of and creates conflicts between business leaders, oversight bodies, and regulators throughout the course of a transaction, from the initial strategies for transactions, over advances in valuation, to post-transaction considerations. Since transactions typically take place in complex (international) regulatory environments, accounting for regulatory issues in transactions establishes another key element of this course. While guided by recent advances in research, in-class guest lectures provide students with the opportunity to gain insights from and engage in discussions with specialists from the field.
This course is essential for any student who desires to learn how to use (financial) information when firms undergo complex transactions. Its audience includes (but is not limited to) future consultants and practitioners in accounting, auditing, private equity, and finance.
Main topics to be covered include: (1) selected corporate governance issues and their influence on transactions, (2) valuation techniques for various targets, bidders, and under different information available, (3) due diligence to uncover financial, operational, legal, tax and reputational risks, (4) payment strategies and their economic consequences.
Course Element | Workload |
Lectures, including Guest Lectures, all on campus (11 x 3) | 33 |
Self Study and Preparation | 135 |
Total | 168h |
See Learning Objectives, Course Overview, and Session Plan for details
Additional information:
On-Campus lectures and guest lectures
No live streams or recordings
Guest lectures with mandatory attendance
"Regular" lectures without mandatory attendance
Lectures can include preparatory assignments - details via Canvas
Lectures cover a wide range of topics in accounting, analysis, and governance in complex deals
The lectures consist of selected topics on standalone basis
Attendance rules
Mandatory attendance applies to guest lectures.
These sessions are a core component of the course and provide essential content that cannot be replaced through alternative assignments or readings. Students who miss a guest lecture will be ineligible to participate in the corresponding weekly assignment (see assessment element "Assessment - Assignments"), resulting in a score of 0% for that week’s assignment. Note that (i) the assignments in total account for 20% of the final grade and that (ii) students must pass all assessment elements to pass the course. Absences from guest lectures will thus directly impact your overall performance.
See Canvas for details & updates (includes reading and preparation materials)
Session | Preliminary Content (subject to change!) |
1 | Introduction to Complex Deals (short session) |
2 | Target Identification |
3 | (Recent) Cross-Border Issues |
4 | Basics Valuation & Pricing |
5 | Advanced Valuation Guest Lecture McKinsey & Company |
6 | Financing the Acquisition |
7 | Due Diligence |
8 | Antitrust Issues |
9 | Post-Merger Integration |
10 | Synergy Assessment Guest Lecture Boston Consulting Group |
11 | Wrap Up |
Integrity statement
Students are expected to take individual tests to the best of their own ability, without seeking or accepting the help of others or use resources that are not explicitly allowed nor to help others. In teamwork, students are not allowed to collaborate outside their own group. Sharing solutions with other teams is also considered a fraudulent action.
Examination schedule
The dates of written exams are available via timetables.eur.nl.
Examination registration
The registration of your first exam goes automatically with your course enrolment. If you are enrolled, you will NOT need to register for the first exam.
As for the resit exam, you will have to enroll yourself manually via Osiris Student in all cases. This is possible between 26 and 5 working days prior to the exam date. Please see Exam and Resit Procedures for details, and see Osiris Student for your registration records.
Examination perusal
The date and time of perusal will be announced once the examination results are published.
Retaking the course
Enrollment for your second year will not be automatic. If you started the master per September 2024 or earlier and wish to re-enrol and continue the master in the 2025-2026 Academic Year, you must complete the following steps:
Re-enrol for the master programme, normally via Studielink
Register for the course(s) in OSIRIS
Note that only a re-enrolment via Studielink is not sufficient. You must also register for the courses either via OSIRIS Student or other platforms. Please refer to the Re-enrolment Guide for detailed instructions on when and how to re-enrol for your master programme and course(s).
Validity of grades
Unless otherwise mentioned, the term of validity for passed courses – including approved courses of another degree programme – and granted exemptions is in principle unlimited.
In derogation from the preceding paragraph and as long as the final exam has not been passed yet, the Examination Board, in consultation with the Academic Director, may declare the term of validity of a course passed more than six years ago, expired if – in its judgement – the knowledge, insights or skills taught during the course have become obsolete. In that case, the Examination Board can impose an additional or alternative course or examination before the student may pass the final exam.
If the examination of a course is composed of more than one test, the term of validity of each test shall be limited to the academic year in which the tests are taken. In exceptional circumstances, upon substantiated request of the examiner, the Examination Board can approve derogation from this rule. Approved derogations must be explicitly mentioned in the course manual.
Closed-book exam Chromebook & ANS
Students need to pass all assessment elements (i.e., Assessment - Exam and Assessment - Assignments) in order to be able to pass the course.
Weighting factor | 80 % |
Form of examination | Written test Open questions, Multiple choice questions, Closed questions |
Group or Individual | Individual |
Formative or Summative | Summative |
Mandatory for final grade | Yes |
Minimum grade applicable | 5.5 |
Opportunity to re-sit within the academic year | Yes Re-sit: closed-book exam Chromebook & ANS |
Interaction/contact with company or organisation | No |
Feedback or evaluation provided by: | Teacher |
Assessment of which course educational goal(s) |
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The assignments are lecture specific. That means they vary based on the content covered in the lecture and can include calculations, multiple choice questions, and open questions. They are available online via Canvas. The final grade will be calculated as the average grade. The lowest score will be excluded from the calculation of the overall average assignment score. Note that the drop-score rule does not apply to scores that enter the calculation due to a missed mandatory guest lecture.
Students need to pass all assessment elements (i.e., Assessment - Exam and Assessment - Assignments) in order to be able to pass the course.
Weighting factor | 20 % |
Form of examination | Assignment |
Group or Individual | Individual |
Formative or Summative | Summative |
Mandatory for final grade | Yes |
Minimum grade applicable | Pass |
Opportunity to re-sit within the academic year | No |
Interaction/contact with company or organisation | No |
Feedback or evaluation provided by: | Teacher, Peer(s) |
Assessment of which course educational goal(s) |
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This course reflect upon the following UN SDGs:
Achieving the course's learning objectives is an essential determinant of success for sustainable business practice. Hence, the course applies to all SDGs.
See Canvas for details
Reading materials will cover multiple accessible sources (i.e., not a "single" textbook)
Study materials (e.g., slides) are typically provided via Canvas but exemptions apply. In case of the latter, content remains relevant for exam when it is ensured that students have sufficient guidance to alternative sources
All study materials such as readers, (online) classes, web-lectures, assignments and exams published on Canvas (“content”) or otherwise made available to you for your studies are protected by copyright under Dutch copyright laws. The copyright is owned by the Erasmus University Rotterdam or the party credited in the publication.
The content is provided solely for your personal use and study. You are allowed to create a copy for your personal use. You are not allowed to make the content or parts thereof available to others or reproduce it without prior written permission of the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
This means that you cannot:
publish, copy or distribute the content in any form, by any means;
upload the content to external websites or databases such as online platforms that allow students to share study materials;
provide or sell the content to tutoring organizations.
Failing to comply with the above may result in appropriate measures being taken.