PWC Deals Strategy Interview

Question

Hi All,

I have an interview with the PwC Deals Strategy - commercial due diligence team in London. I was wondering what kind of questions to expect? Appreciate any suggestions on what to expect and how to prepare.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi there,

What to expect in general

You should absolutely expect cases/questions to be much more deal focused. As such, you should practice M&A/DD cases.

Furthermore, they would absolutely expect you to leverage your existing experience in your answers.

Finally, I interviewed with PwC in their Technology practice and I can tell you that it felt much less "case-y" than the pure strategy firms. As such, just be prepared to not be taken through a whole case. As an example, off the bat I was asked "How would you organize a backlog of IT enhancements". Of course, I used my judgement to not treat it like a case and just went through the classifications/process I would use and why. Make sure to read the cues here!

How to Prepare

1) Search on M&A/Acquisitions/Valuation here (already done): https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases?language=en&topic[]=1&topic[]=19&sort=real-case-desc&page=1&perPage=20

2) Google and casebooks are your friend. Go to the various company sections to find M&A cases

3) Here's a case I wrote that is similar to what you might expect: https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/intermediate/roma-solutions-senior-expert-level-tech-case-240

Here's some advice/reading regarding case prep: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

And here's some advice/reading regarding fit prep:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

Answer 2

Hello!

Even for such an specific interview, I would ensure that you can defend yourself on the following:

1. Profitability cases- basic profitability framework.

2. Idea generation cases: for any specif issue

3. Growth cases: market penetration, new product launch, product mix change, etc.

4. Pricing cases

5. M&A cases

6. Valuation cases

7. Value chain cases

On top of that, make sure you deep dive in M&A cases. Feel free to reach out for some M&A examples and frameworks, it´s one of my favs since I did a lot in McKinsey.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 3

You should expect cases on evaluating an investment.

Therefore, I suggest that you should do the following:

Have a basic understanding of how private equity investments work (i.e., how does a PE fund make money?)
Search on the internet for commercial due diligence material and info memos to read and study
Run cases on revenue growth
Analyze companies (e.g., which are the market risks and opportunities, which are the company-specific risks and opportunities, and is this firm fitting with other ones in the PE portfolio?)

Best