Duties and Responsibilities
Deal Origination
- Build and maintain long-term relationships with founders, operators, school owners, brokers, and local influencers.
- Proactively identify targets (pipeline generation).
- Initial outreach and meeting setup.
- Maintain CRM/database hygiene (tracking conversations, touchpoints, next steps).
- Support positioning of EiM as a preferred buyer/partner.
- Facilitate introductions internally (founder → CEO / regional head / M&A).
Deal Execution & Transaction Leadership
- Lead end-to-end execution of M&A transactions, acting as the day-to-day deal captain across multiple workstreams.
- Manage transaction timelines, workplans, and deliverables from early-stage assessment through to signing and closing.
- Coordinate internal stakeholders and external advisors to ensure diligence processes are thorough, efficient, and decision-oriented.
- Drive the development of investment cases, valuation scenarios, and transaction recommendations for senior leadership and investment committee review.
Financial Modelling & Commercial Evaluation
- Build and/or oversee robust financial models, including valuation analysis, sensitivity scenarios, synergy cases, and integration assumptions.
- Evaluate strategic fit and commercial attractiveness of targets, ensuring investment decisions reflect both financial returns and operational feasibility.
- Identify key value drivers and risks, translating diligence findings into clear executive level insights and decision frameworks.
Stakeholder & Founder Management
- Build credibility with school founders, owners, operators, and senior leadership teams through strong communication and relationship management.
- Support complex negotiations and stakeholder dynamics, including founders, boards, regulators, advisors, and internal executives.
- Support senior leadership in structuring and negotiating transaction terms, including governance frameworks, earn-outs, minority investments, and partnership structures where relevant.
Cross-Border Transactions & Emerging Markets
- Support transaction structuring and execution across multiple geographies, with a strong focus on Asia for sourcing new deals plus the Middle East for deal execution.
- Partner with legal and tax advisors to navigate cross-border issues including ownership restrictions, repatriation, compliance requirements, and local market practices.
- Develop market intelligence and contribute to strategic expansion planning through regional insights and competitive analysis.
Process Improvement & Team Contribution
- Help build scalable M&A processes, templates, and playbooks to support a growing pipeline and repeatable deal execution.
- Mentor junior team members (Associates/Analysts) and support development of a high-performance deal execution culture.
Requirements:
- 6-8 years of experience in Investment Banking and/or Private Equity, with direct exposure to M&A execution.
- Minimum Degree
- Strong end-to-end deal execution experience with demonstrated ability to lead transactions independently (deal captain capability).
- Exposure to education, consumer services, healthcare, or similarly regulated sectors preferred (K-12 experience highly regarded).
