XIMB CONSTRAT organises annual business conclave Stratonomics 2019

“CONSTRAT”-The Consulting and Strategy Consortium of XIMB organized their annual business conclave “Stratonomics 2019” on 11th of August, Sunday. The theme for this year was “Mergers & Acquisitions: A myth or reality for long-term sustainable growth”. The aim was to have an insightful discussion on how Mergers and Acquisitions have been a real reason in profit-making and growth of industries and not merely a myth anymore.

Mr Dinesh Agrawal, Global Head- M&A, L&T InfoTech Ltd., and Mr Rahul Gupta, Director, Strategy and M&A, Cognizant Technology Solutions were the esteemed speakers for the conclave. Dr Amar KJR Nayak, Professor of General Management and Strategic Management was the moderator for the day.

Economy, the net return, value addition are few of the many deciding factors when it comes to Mergers & Acquisitions. The speakers addressed every aspect of a Mergers & Acquisitions decision-making and focused on the grey areas of a sustainable tie-up. Dr Amar KJR Nayak set the tone for the conclave by putting forward questions such as, “What compels a firm for M&A?”, “Does M&A ease the way business is done?”, “What is an optimal size of a company in respect to the industry?” to the speakers and the audience to take the discussion on the practicality of Mergers & Acquisitions forward.

The first speaker, at Stratonomics 2019, Mr Rahul Gupta started with familiarizing the students about what Mergers & Acquisition is about. Followed by that with his diverse experience in Change initiatives and Transformation programs over the last 15 years, he shed light on “Engagement approval”, “Negotiations” and “Valuations” of M&A. He went on to address the theme from a process perspective and added that understanding the time to market and the shareholder’s value are the key factors of a successful deal. He also encouraged the students to have a positive conviction and the passion to innovate to have a generous career in M&A Strategy.

The second speaker, at Stratonomics 2019, Mr Dinesh Agrawal led the topic of the day by speaking about investments from the M&A point-of-view. According to him, customers should be the top priority when it comes to such ventures. He further stressed on the point of active risk-taking being a key criterion for M&A in the market. Mr Dinesh Agrawal expatiated the real-time requirements of an M&A – purchase agreements, right price points, process, and a sound team. He talked about the difference between General Partners and Limited Partners of a firm and how Investment Bank is the primary source of information when it comes to M&A. He advised the students to keep learning in the ever-changing world as he concluded his speech.

The panel discussion was followed by an interactive session between the esteemed speakers and the inquisitive students of XIMB. Following which the winners of “Midnight Stratomania ‘19” – Online Quiz and “Consilium 2019” – White Paper Writing Contest were announced that was organized by CONSTRAT. “The Strategist” annual magazine of CONSTRAT was launched post that. Mr Sai Surya Vamsy Prakky, the student coordinator of CONSTRAT delivered the vote of thanks and concluded the event.