In the current age of economic globalization, financial and appraisal professionals may want to extend their expertise beyond the discrete “pieces” of valuing a business—i.e., accounting, tax, and M&A. If so, they may consider acquiring the Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor (CM&AA) certification, sponsored by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA). New courses this fall will take place on university campuses in Chicago (DePaul), Charlotte, N.C. (Wake Forest), and Los Angeles (Pepperdine). Current learning objectives include:

• An overview of the private capital marketplace;
• The dynamics of an M&A engagement and practice management;
• Corporate M&A development;
• Buy- and sell-side representation;
• Traditional investment banking;
• Business valuation and M&A standards, accounting, finance;
• Traditional business valuation and transactional valuation;
• M&A legal and tax issues;
• Acquisition and growth financing; and
• Review and examination for credentialing.

Course books include Private Capital Markets, by Rob Slee, and Valuation for M&A: Building Value in Private Companies, by Chris Mellen and Frank Evans. For more information, click here.