“Hung deals” refer to investment banking transactions that couldn’t be closed for various reasons. Despite not being successfully completed, these transactions can still provide valuable experience, as they often involve complex negotiations, financial modeling, and due diligence, amongst other skills. You may want to include hung deals on your resume, especially if you’re new to the field and don’t have a lot of other deals to showcase.
Here’s how you might present hung deals on your resume:
- Describe your involvement: Just as with a successful deal, describe your role and responsibilities. This can include the type of deal (M&A, IPO, restructuring, etc.), the industries involved, and the size of the deal, if appropriate.
- Focus on the process and skills acquired: Since the deal didn’t close, it’s essential to highlight the skills you gained during the process. This could include financial modeling, valuation, drafting pitch books, due diligence, client interaction, negotiation, etc.
- Present challenges and learnings: You can talk about the challenges faced during the deal and what you learned from them. This could be about how you overcame a particularly complex financial modeling issue, how you navigated a tricky negotiation, or how you worked through the regulatory issues, etc.
- Confidentiality and discretion: Be sure to maintain confidentiality. Avoid naming specific clients or revealing any proprietary information, particularly if the deal didn’t go through.
Here’s an example of how you might list a hung deal on your resume:
Associate, Investment Banking, XYZ Bank (20XX – Present)
- Assisted in a proposed $500M cross-border M&A transaction (deal did not close).
- Responsible for comprehensive financial modeling, including DCF and comparable company analysis.
- Conducted extensive industry research and due diligence to inform the investment thesis.
- Prepared and presented pitch books for client meetings and management presentations.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams, legal counsel, and third-party advisors, gaining deep insights into the complexities of M&A negotiations.
- Despite not reaching completion, learned valuable lessons about the importance of thorough due diligence, clear communication with stakeholders, and the need for creative problem-solving in deal structuring.
Remember, the aim is to highlight your skills, knowledge, and experience gained from working on the deal, rather than focusing on the unsuccessful outcome.
