39 questions reported in Lazard interviews, organised by the group that asks them. Every question carries a model answer and graded feedback on your own attempt.
Questions
Easy · Medium
Hard
Model builds
Built in the spreadsheet grid
Currently advertised programmes.
Merger models, accretion/dilution, purchase accounting and deal judgement. 18 questions
Practical question about the deliverable analysts actually produce.
What is a football field chart, how is each range constructed, and how would you respond if the client says your valuation range is too wide?
Tests whether you can think like an advisor rather than a modeler.
An acquirer can fund a deal with cash, new debt, or stock. Compare the three from both the buyer's and the seller's perspective, and explain what signal each sends to the market.
The analysis that determines the ownership split in a stock-for-stock merger.
Two companies are merging in an all-stock deal with no premium. How do you determine the ownership split, and what is contribution analysis?
Asked when discussing precedent transactions or fairness opinions.
What is a control premium and why does it exist? How does it relate to a minority discount, and what determines its size in a given deal?
The standard follow-up to the three-statement walkthrough. Assume a 25% tax rate.
Depreciation increases by $10. Walk me through what happens on all three statements. Use a 25% tax rate and assume nothing else changes.
Relevant given the volume of separation activity across large caps.
Compare a sale, a spin-off and a carve-out IPO as ways to separate a business unit. When would you recommend each, and what makes carve-outs operationally hard?
Bridges accounting and M&A. Expect it in any deal-heavy group.
How is goodwill created in an acquisition? Then walk me through the three statements when $100 of goodwill is written off, assuming a 25% tax rate.
One of the four analyses in every fairness opinion.
Walk me through a premiums paid analysis. What are its weaknesses compared to precedent transactions?
What a VP does in ninety seconds before the analyst's model reaches a client.
You've built a DCF. What checks do you run before showing it to anyone?
Follows directly from the DCF walkthrough. Terminal value is where the value actually sits.
What are the two methods for calculating terminal value? Compare them, and explain how you'd sanity check one against the other.
Top-three most asked question in investment banking interviews.
Walk me through a discounted cash flow analysis from start to finish.
Core technical for any M&A or coverage group interview.
Walk me through building a merger model from start to finish.
Tests whether you can reason about debt-like items rather than recite a formula.
Beyond debt and cash, what other items belong in the enterprise value bridge? Explain the principle you'd use to decide whether something is a debt-like item.
Tests whether you understand the advisory product, not just the analysis behind it.
A board asks its banker for a fairness opinion. What does it actually say, what does it not say, and why is it worth paying for?
The core modelling test for investment banking and equity research superdays.
Value the business with a five-year DCF and bridge to an implied share price. Free cash flow for years 1–5 is given. Discount at the WACC using end-of-year convention. Calculate terminal value with…
Separates candidates who understand the enterprise value bridge from those who memorised it.
A company owns 70% of Subsidiary A and 30% of Company B. How does each appear in the financials, and what does that mean for enterprise value?
The structuring decision at the heart of every stock deal.
In an all-stock deal, explain the difference between a fixed exchange ratio and a fixed value deal. Who bears the risk in each, and what is a collar for?
Essential for conglomerates and any company an activist is targeting.
A conglomerate has three divisions in unrelated industries. How would you value it, and why might the sum exceed the market price?
Liquidity runway, fulcrum security, Chapter 11 mechanics and recoveries. 11 questions
The basic first workstream on any new restructuring mandate.
What belongs in a distressed company's capital-structure summary, and why is it important?
A first-round restructuring question testing the practical purpose of a Chapter 11 filing.
What is the automatic stay in Chapter 11, and why can it preserve value for a distressed company?
The first analysis a restructuring banker runs on a new situation.
A company calls you in distress. What is the first analysis you run, and what determines whether they have a liquidity problem or a solvency problem?
A Chapter 11 governance question for restructuring candidates.
What is an official creditors' committee in Chapter 11, and what does it do?
Modern restructuring interviews expect candidates to understand out-of-court liability management.
What is a liability management exercise, and why is it contentious?
A core Chapter 11 transaction concept for restructuring analysts.
What is a Section 363 sale, and why might it be preferable to a plan of reorganisation?
A senior restructuring case testing whether a proposed Chapter 11 plan can bind a rejecting creditor class.
A company proposes a Chapter 11 plan with $300m of reorganised enterprise value. It has $120m of first-lien debt, $150m of second-lien debt and $110m of unsecured notes. The first lien is paid in…
A restructuring analyst case involving liquidity triage, DIP financing, and creditor negotiation under a Chapter 11 timetable.
You advise the first-lien lender group of a specialty retailer that will file Chapter 11 in ten days. The company needs DIP financing, but its sponsor wants to provide it on terms that may dilute…
A synthesis case in restructuring interviews.
How would you decide whether to pursue an out-of-court restructuring or file Chapter 11?
A restructuring analyst prioritization lab testing liquidity control, stakeholder sequencing, and executable contingency planning.
You advise a retailer whose revolver agent has sent a reservation-of-rights notice. Payroll is due in five days and suppliers are shortening terms. Rank the actions as the stakeholder situation…
A restructuring analyst live case balancing liquidity, stakeholder leverage and recoveries.
You advise a sponsor-owned distributor with one week before payroll and a blocked revolver draw. Decide what to do as facts arrive, then send the senior team a restructuring recommendation.
Reserve-based valuation, commodity decks, contracted cash flows and PPAs. 5 questions
A common first-round renewable-power follow-up after an analyst discusses project scale or revenue.
A solar project has 100 MW of nameplate capacity and a 30% capacity factor. Calculate its expected annual generation in MWh. Then explain why capacity factor is more useful than nameplate capacity…
Grid parity is the threshold where renewables compete without subsidies. Fundamental to understanding the energy transition.
Explain grid parity in renewable energy. When does it occur, and why doesn't it immediately drive fossil fuel displacement?
The renewables valuation foundation. Every power and clean energy interview uses LCOE.
Explain levelised cost of energy (LCOE). How is it calculated and why is it the standard metric for comparing different generation sources?
PPAs are the financing mechanism for renewables. Understanding them is essential for energy project finance.
Explain a power purchase agreement. How does it affect project economics and what are the key terms to negotiate?
A power and utilities associate may use this case to test whether a candidate can distinguish headline power prices from an asset's realised economics.
You are valuing a 200 MW merchant solar project. Its expected annual output is 350,400 MWh and the forecast average hub price is $50/MWh. Because solar generation is concentrated in low-price midday…
Same-store sales, unit economics, brand durability and channel shift. 3 questions
Brand equity is the primary asset for consumer companies. This tests understanding of intangible value.
What framework do you use to assess brand equity, and how does it translate into financial performance?
Channel strategy is critical to retail success. This tests understanding of go-to-market dynamics.
What factors do you consider when evaluating a retailer's channel strategy, and how do e-commerce and omnichannel affect the analysis?
Consumer M&A has unique strategic drivers. This tests understanding of sector consolidation.
What are the primary strategic reasons for M&A in consumer and retail, and how do they differ across subsectors?
Structuring for downside, collateral, priming risk and recovery. 1 question
Tests process judgement in a restructuring where speed and stakeholder consent change value.
Compare a prepackaged Chapter 11 with a free-fall filing. When would you favour each, and what does the choice mean for creditors?
Cyclicality, operating leverage, backlog quality and mid-cycle earnings. 1 question
A coverage-team diligence question after an industrial equipment issuer discloses a potential safety defect shortly before earnings.
A manufacturer of lifting equipment identifies a possible defect in 40,000 units. Management estimates a $30m warranty reserve, but it has not determined the repair rate, customer downtime cost or…
Write your answer, get it graded on technical accuracy, completeness and communication, and see exactly which mechanic you missed.
Company tags reflect where a question type is commonly reported in interviews. They are not sourced from, endorsed by, or affiliated with Lazard.