How to Ace Your LBO Modeling Tests and Private Equity Case Studies - and Win Offers at the Top Firms
Build 6 "conceptual" LBO models
Start by learning the concepts and formulas with these models
Prep for interview questions
Practice with LBO math interview questions, paper LBOs, and more
Complete 6 full case studies
Learn real-life LBO models and how to make investment recommendations
View short course outline or scroll down for the details
These days, “private equity courses” are a dime a dozen.
Seemingly every monkey typing away at a keyboard has released one, and quite a few appear to be generated by ChatGPT.
The problem is that most of them miss the mark.
It’s not so much that the other training is “bad” – it’s that it’s incomplete.
Most private equity / LBO modeling courses take one of the following approaches:
Wrong Approach #1: Too Much Irrelevant Material and Not Enough Case Studies – You don’t need to know about the history of private equity, how to set up a data room, or how fund economics work (beyond the basics). To win offers, you need to pass the modeling tests and case studies with flying colors.
Wrong Approach #2: Only LBO Models Built from Pre-Existing Templates – Yes, it’s “easier” to teach financial modeling if you start with a pre-existing template with all the schedules set up. But in real life, they could easily ask you to build a model starting from a blank sheet. So, you can’t just “skip” this topic and expect to succeed in interviews.
Wrong Approach #3: Only the Modeling, But Nothing On Research or Investment Recommendations – In some cases, such as for on-cycle recruiting, you can get by with just financial modeling skills. But if you ever interview at a smaller firm, in an off-cycle process, or outside the U.S., you will get open-ended case studies that require you to perform research and think creatively about the solutions.
The correct approach – the one our course uses – is based on understanding the mechanics of LBO models, then getting case study practice, and then learning how to write investment recommendations for deals.
To create this course, we gathered dozens of case study examples submitted by students and professionals who had been through private equity interviews over the years.
We put all those case studies into our magical synthesizer, melted them down into their best parts, and produced the most efficient way to learn the material while “trimming the fat.”
This course focuses on the 3 most important points in private equity interviews:
1) LBO Concepts and Mechanics – You need to understand how to set up the purchase and exit assumptions, the cash flow projections, and the Debt repayment (plus, the additional features that we layer in step-by-step over 5 levels of LBO models).
2) Technical Interview Questions and “Quick Cases” – It’s also important to understand LBO-related technical questions, ranging from simple “LBO math” queries to paper LBOs to quick verbal evaluations of companies.
3) Full Case Studies with Investment Recommendations – Finally, you must understand how to put together all the pieces to analyze a company in different cases and make an investment recommendation. You must be able to look at a company and its financial, product, and market information and say “Yes” or “No.”
No other training program covers all the elements quite like this because they spend too much time on irrelevant topics – or they fail to explain the open-ended case studies, such as ones where you start from blank Excel sheets or have to research a market and pick a company to acquire.
Everyone is pressed for time, so we focused on making this course accessible as well.
So, if you need a 5-hour study plan, you can follow the one suggested in the course. But if you want more depth, there are also 10-hour and 20-hour options.
The paths differ, but they all lead to the same grand prize: An offer at a top-tier private equity firm.
Through the 6 “conceptual” LBO models, interview questions, and 6 full case studies in the course, you’ll learn to:
- Understand the mechanics, drivers, and key formulas in leveraged buyout models.
- Build “quick” LBO models to answer questions about whether deals are viable.
- Model everything from “cash flow only” LBO models to full 3-statement models – under both U.S. GAAP and IFRS (yes, including the tricky IFRS 16 lease accounting).
- Support more advanced features, such as dividend recaps, add-on acquisitions, earn-outs, IPO exits, stub periods, convertible preferred stock, and more.
- Answer the most important interview questions about LBOs, ranging from the “why” to math-based questions about quick IRR approximations.
- Evaluate businesses quickly by reading a few documents and determining whether the companies are suitable LBO candidates.
- Build LBO models starting from blank Excel sheets and a company’s filings – and learn how to consolidate and simplify the data to finish on time.
- Perform outside industry research to screen for buyout candidates, pick the best one, and build a model and investment recommendation for it.
- Create your own scenarios for deals based on the historical data, market trends, and comments from management.
- Explain how to mitigate the key risk factors in a leveraged buyout, including both operational and financial concerns.
- Make investment recommendations based on both qualitative and quantitative factors, including the model, outside data, and market research.
If you want to answer interview questions and case studies with ease and leap up the ladder once you start working, this is the course for you.
Brian DeChesare
Founder, Breaking Into Wall Street
Here’s What You’ll Get When You Sign Up for This Private Equity Modeling Course:
Conceptual LBO Models (Levels 1 - 5)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: This training gets you up to speed quickly with the main concepts behind LBO models and the key formulas you’ll use in every model.
This module teaches you LBO modeling from the ground up, starting with a “simple LBO” that can be completed in 15 minutes.
Once you learn the fundamentals, you’ll progress through the Level 1 – 5 models, which progressively add features such as Revolvers, Cash Flow Sweeps, PIK Interest, Management Rollovers/Options, Goodwill and Purchase Price Allocation, and more.
By the end, you’ll be able to build a full 3-statement LBO model with support for a Dividend Recap and Add-On Acquisitions – and you’ll understand the key formulas common to all LBO models.
Paper LBOs, Interview Questions, and Quick Case Studies
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: This module gives you plenty of practice with “mini” case studies, such as paper LBOs, quick business evaluations, and verbal interview questions about IRR math.
While you need to know LBO models quite well for private equity interviews, they’re not all you need to know.
In many interviews, you’ll still get standard technical questions about how to calculate the IRR or the required purchase price or why a certain deal works – so this module covers all these points.
The training here also provides several examples of “paper LBOs,” where you have to write down the numbers and make calculations on paper rather than with Excel or a calculator.
It wraps up with a few “business evaluation” case studies, where you review a company’s financials and market information and state whether it’s a good buyout candidate.
60-Minute LBO from a Blank Excel Sheet (Fabulous Fowl)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: You’ll get practice entering the data, assumptions, and formulas starting from a blank Excel sheet in this case study.
Everyone likes to “teach” LBO modeling starting from pre-existing templates, but in many interviews, they’ll ask you to start from a blank sheet and build your own model based on the provided assumptions.
They want to see if you really understand the concepts or if you’re just good at copying and pasting other peoples’ work.
This module walks you through the whole process and explains how to enter everything into a blank Excel sheet, build a simple model, and answer the case study questions within 60 minutes.
90-Minute LBO from a Template (Superior Industries)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: You’ll get practice completing an LBO model based on a partial template in this module, including how to make your own operational assumptions.
This model moves you firmly into an “intermediate”-level case study, where the goal is to read a company’s information and the case study instructions, complete a partial template, and make an investment recommendation at the end.
It’s based on an auto parts supplier (Superior Industries) and covers topics such as the treatment of Preferred Stock and how private equity firms can use it to mitigate their risk in deals.
It also explains how to evaluate different outcomes quickly without full scenarios (just using sensitivity tables for the key drivers) – and it uses a Value Creation Analysis to quantify the importance of each driver.
2.5-Hour LBO from a Blank Excel Sheet (Watches of Switzerland)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: This module explains how to input a real company’s financials into Excel, review its information quickly, and build a 3-statement LBO model from a blank sheet.
In this case study, you’ll learn how to “walk the walk” by reading the financial statements, annual report, and investor presentation of a real company (Watches of Switzerland, a luxury retailer) and building an LBO model starting from a blank sheet.
You’ll learn how to consolidate and simplify so that you can finish within 2.5 hours, and you’ll understand how to quickly develop revenue, expense, and CapEx assumptions for a public company in this sector.
This case also covers IFRS 16 lease accounting and the need to forecast lease assets and liabilities on the statements.
Other features include an add-on acquisition in the initial deal, returns to the mezzanine investors (with an equity option), a full 3-statement model, and an investment recommendation presentation at the end.
3-Hour LBO from a Template (Twitter / X)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: This case study walks you through an advanced-level LBO model based on Elon Musk’s buyout of Twitter (X), including features such as advanced tax schedules and convertible preferred stock.
You’ll move into the advanced-level case studies with this module, which walks you through Elon Musk’s $45 billion acquisition of X (formerly known as Twitter) in depth.
You’ll start by making assumptions for the revenue, expenses, and cash flows in different scenario (Elon’s fantasy numbers vs. more realistic ones), and then you’ll build in support for a full 3-statement LBO model with a detailed Debt Schedule and a Tax Schedule with R&D tax amortization, Section 382 NOL limits, and limits on the tax deductibility of Interest Expense.
Other, more advanced features include different options for Convertible Preferred Stock in the exit and tricks to avoid circular references.
After finishing all this, you’ll recommend for or against the deal and get a full investment recommendation presentation with the numbers to back up your decisions.
4-Hour LBO from a Template (Viridor)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: This case study is based on KKR’s leveraged buyout of Viridor and explains advanced concepts such as stub periods, dividend recaps, and stress-testing the model for lenders.
Our second advanced-level LBO model covers a different company, geography, and industry (Viridor, a recycling/waste management company in the U.K.).
This one delves into projections for a CapEx-intensive company that provides essential infrastructure services, and it explains how to build to a full 3-statement model with support for variable close dates and stub periods.
You’ll also learn how features such as Working Capital Adjustments for private companies, original issue discount (OID), and lease accounting work.
After finishing the main model, you’ll calculate the returns to both the PE firm and the lenders (the debt investors), including support for Recovery percentage calculations in the downside cases.
The module wraps up with 2 separate investment recommendation presentations: One for the equity investors (the PE firm) and one for the lenders).
Take-Home LBO Case Study (Cars.com)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: In this case study, you’ll get practice researching companies, picking the best one, and building your own model and recommendation without specific instructions – very common at smaller PE firms and in off-cycle recruiting.
In this module, you’ll learn how to screen for buyout candidates based on a private equity firm’s investment strategy and how to use a company’s statements and presentations to build an investment thesis around a suitable company (based on Cars.com).
The model itself here is in the “intermediate” zone, but the complexity comes from all the outside research required to build in support for add-on acquisitions that significantly boost the company’s size.
After completing the data gathering and the full model, including support for different types of IPO and M&A exits, you’ll get an investment recommendation presentation that makes the detailed case for the deal.
Plus… This Course Comes With The FollowingValuable Tools To Accelerate Your Learning:
FULL Subtitles/Captions and Transcripts
365-Day-per-Year Q&A
100+ Pages of Written Guides
Free Updates
Watchable on ANY Device
Expert Support
Practice Quizzes with Full Answer Keys
…and Our Legendary, 90-Day
No-Questions-Asked Money-Back Guarantee
Take a full 90 days to review the Private Equity Modeling course and make certain it’s everything we promise.
You do not have to finish everything in that time – think of it as your “trial period” or “evaluation time.”
If you aren’t satisfied for any reason, simply ask for your money back, and we’ll issue a prompt refund – no questions asked.
Plus Expert Support from Experienced Finance Professionals
Just moments after you enroll, you’ll gain Instant Access to the Private Equity Modeling course.
But that’s not the best part.
The best part is expert support for a full 5 years after purchase!
If there’s anything that you don’t understand, just go to the “Question/Comment” area below each lesson, and ask your question there.
These comments are monitored and responded to by our expert support team – every one of whom has personal experience working on deals at finance firms.
That ensures that you’ll get responses from people with deep experience in the field – not a clueless high school temp clutching the “Help Desk” manual.
This personalized, expert support is one of the things that sets Breaking Into Wall Street apart and gets you to your goals faster.
You can often learn just as much from reading other students’ questions and our responses as you will from the lessons themselves!
Our 1-on-1 coaching rate is $200+ per hour. But when you invest in the Private Equity Modeling course, personal support is included for FREE.
NOTE: There are some limitations to these support services. For example, we cannot complete models, case studies, or homework assignments for you.
We also cannot provide play-by-play support with an earpiece during interviews.
Finally, we cannot answer questions about topics not covered in these courses, such as sales & trading interview questions or coding/programming interview questions.
We’re happy to answer career-related, qualitative, and technical questions that are related to the course materials.
What’s Your Investment In This Private Equity Modeling Course?
To put this in context, let’s look at your Return on Investment in this course…
The pay for entry-level private equity positions varies, but it’s safe to say that even entry-level Associates will earn at least $200,000 USD per year, if not more than that at the mega-funds (e.g., $300K+ or even $350K).
And as you progress, your total compensation gets higher and higher; Principals earn into the upper-six-figure range, and Partners can earn $1+ million annually, depending on the fund size and overall performance.
And each one had to start in an entry-level role to get their foot in the door – just like you today.
We could sell the 8 core components of this course at their “fair market values,” for a total of $626, but since this course is new, we’re offering an even better deal and discounting it to just $197.
Compared with your potential upside – jobs that pay well into the six-figure range – your investment in the course is nominal.
By investing just $197 in this course, you’re greatly improving your chances of landing a job that pays upwards of $200,000 in Year 1 – that’s more than a 1000x return on investment!
Even if this training only helps you to win an internship, that’s still at least $10,000 USD at any reputable firm, for a 50x ROI.
There is no other way to get this level of training… this level of on-demand support… this level of testing and case study practice… and this level of access to a community of thousands of peers…
…at ANY price!
So yes, you have to invest in yourself to gain access to this specialized private equity equity training, but it will be one of the smartest, highest-return investments you ever make – we guarantee it!
We’ve bent over backward to deliver the best, most comprehensive program on the market that gives you everything you need to land a great job and start a long-term career in private equity.
To date, over 56,763+ people have invested in BIWS training and gone on to secure lucrative jobs in the industry. I want you to be next, and I want to make this a “no-brainer” decision for you.
Just 1 Payment of $197
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You’re Also 100% Protected By Our Unique
90-Day, No-Questions-Asked, Money-Back Guarantee
Since I want to make this a “no-brainer” decision for you, the Private Equity Modeling course comes with the same iron-clad guarantee that we offer on everything:
You have 90 days to evaluate the course material and see if it’s right for you.
If you decide at any point during those 90 days that Private Equity Modeling doesn’t meet your expectations, simply request a refund.
We perform for you, or you get your money back – that’s how it always should be.
Here’s What Will Happen Within a Few Short Moments of You Joining the Private Equity Modeling Course:
The minute you join, you’ll have access to the complete Private Equity Modeling course, including 162 separate videos, 100+ pages of detailed written guides and interview questions, transcripts and subtitles/captions for all the videos, “Before and After” Excel files, and 12 case studies with LBO models of different complexities, covering companies in different industries and geographies.
And the best part: We’ll be here to guide you every step of the way because your enrollment comes with a full 5 years of expert support. If there’s something you don’t understand, just go to the “Question/Comment” area below each lesson and ask your question, and we’ll respond with a detailed answer.
On top of that, you’ll also get access to free updates over time as we upgrade these courses and add new material.
Decision and Action Time
Of course, there are other options for learning this material.
For example, you could complete a course on this topic from another provider, buy a generic course on a random e-learning site for $10 or $20… or read a long book about private equity.
These methods have their merits, but they won’t get you the same results because they’re designed for “generalist” audiences – not people currently interviewing for investment roles at the top private equity firms.
So, if you want to master all aspects of case studies, from quick math to complex LBO models, and and hit the ground running on day 1 of your internship or full-time job, this training is your best option.
Yes, it is more of an investment than a book or an AI-generated online course, but ask yourself about the value of your time and interview opportunities.
If you win a coveted interview spot at a PE mega-fund, such as Apollo, Blackstone, or KKR, do you want to “wing it?”
Or do you want to ensure that you’ve prepared in the most comprehensive way possible?
If you’re serious about your future career in the finance industry, you should not even have to think about this one.
And if you have any doubts, it’s all backed by our no-questions-asked, no-hassle, 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee.
In fact, the ONLY risk is that you might apply for a job or walk into an interview without this course – and lose out to another candidate who has completed it.
The next move is up to you.
You can hope that an investment firm hires you without knowledge of these topics and the ability to complete case studies and make investment recommendations…
…or you can confidently tell them you’ve completed the most targeted LBO modeling training available, based on 12 case studies and authored by finance professionals who have collectively worked on dozens of deals.
I know you’ll make the right choice.
To YOUR success,
Brian DeChesare
Breaking Into Wall Street Founder
P.S. Remember that you have NOTHING to lose and nearly unlimited upside – your future career in a high-paying industry – to gain. You have a full 90 days to evaluate the program and return it for a full refund if you’re not satisfied.
Of course, it’s much more likely that you’ll be writing in to thank me in the future – just like so many others have. Here’s what some of our BIWS students have said about their experiences:
"Thanks to this course, I have been able to land a job in a PE firm in Spain, HIP, which is a subsidiary of Blackstone."
"BIWS is the reason I was able to land a position in PE without the [industry standard] 2-year IB prerequisite."
"Breaking Into Wall Street was a real game changer for me. It was the first modeling platform I came across where the founder and team thoroughly knew what they were doing because they had been in private equity or hedge funds before."
"All the information [on] this website really helped me to land a job in the PE industry as an undergraduate. It also helped me to land interviews [at] many investment banks."
"However, [PE] on-the-job taught me nothing about financial modeling, and I tried to find some courses to help me close the gap. Even [though] I haven't completed some parts, my modeling skills are now much more excellent than my team and Japanese seniors."
"I moved from being a tax accountant/lawyer with a Big 4 accounting firm to now working in the investments team of a PE fund. This would not have been possible without the core grounding I got from your practical course in financial modeling."
"Without your course, there was no way I could have pursued an "organic" strategy, where I was able to secure a full-time IB role with no internships and now finally get into healthcare PE. So thank you, this has completely transformed my life."
"BIWS was instrumental in helping me pivot into private equity."
"With no background in IB, I won multiple offers in private equity as well as one offer from IB. I am currently working at a PE fund, and your case studies made the case studies in their interviews a cake walk."
"I started a position as a Sr. [Analyst] of business strategy and planning three months ago for a private equity RE firm. Your videos and Excel models have been invaluable thus far to my success, as I had little to [no] modeling experience prior."
"I have been working at a private equity fund for nearly 4 years, [and] though I have done several valuation models for various projects these years, BIWS courses still gave me a tremendous help [in] fixing my deep-seated problems that I was not aware of."
"I just landed a job in a private equity fund, and I could not have done it without this course."
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