As part of an event titled “Wall Street Comes to Baltimore” at Morgan State University’s Graves School of Business & Management this past Friday, George Nemphos spoke with students about mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, his path to becoming a corporate attorney, and more.
On the M&A panel, Nemphos was interviewed by Stephen Muturi, Senior Portfolio Manager for the Maryland State Retirement & Pension System. Their discussion covered general M&A topics, including the difference between strategic and opportunistic acquisitions, inflation’s ripple effect through the M&A marketplace, and the role lawyers play in helping clients find the best path forward in a deal.
On due diligence, Nemphos shared that “it’s like a physical, only 10 times worse,” and is like popping the hood on a car to inspect the engine, check connections, look for leaks, analyze the mileage and determine what parts are available.
A great question from one of the students: “What’s the #1 mistake companies make?” Nemphos stated that the #1 cause of failure post closing is not paying closer attention to the culture and the people.
Also during the event, students heard from speakers on topics ranging from stock and bonds, to hedge funds, cryptocurrency and alternative investments. In the event organized by George Micheni, director of the school’s Capital Markets Lab, presenters also highlighted the many career paths students can take in relation to the financial marketplace, ranging from accounting to wealth management to corporate law.
