Valuation
- DCF and LBO
- Public trading comparables
- Precedent transactions
- Scenario and sensitivity analysis
TRANSACTION EXPERIENCE · INVESTMENT JUDGMENT · OPERATING DESIGN
I evaluate and execute transactions, and build the systems behind them.
I started in investment banking, then became the first dedicated M&A hire on a lean corporate development team at a Blackstone-backed company. I spend most of my time moving from what the numbers say, to what still has to be proven, to what the team should do next.
~14Live sell-side processes
30+Buy-side opportunities evaluated
20+Investment memos
EvidenceConditionsDecision
Lisa ZhuArlington, Virginia · Open to relocation
TRANSACTION EXPERIENCE
Repetition across the full deal cycle.
Sell-side advisory and corporate development experience across consumer, technology, business services, healthcare services, and industrials.
01 / 10
Target Sourcing & Pipeline
Build and maintain a prioritized target universe.
DECISION MODELING
I build the model the decision requires.
I start with the objective, isolate the operating and transaction drivers, and design the structure around the decision. The models below are examples, not the boundary.
Operating & M&A
- Five-year operating models
- Combined-company pro forma models
- Integration impact scenarios
- Pro forma EBITDA adjustments
Custom Analysis
- Hardware unit economics
- Subscription cohort analysis
- Proceeds and rollover analysis
- Decision-specific model design
SELECTED PUBLIC TRANSACTIONS
Public transaction experience.
Two examples with direct links to the firms' public announcements.
01Open deal page 02Open deal page
2025 · LIVINGSTONE PARTNERS
Royal Paper to Sofidel America
$180M+ sale of substantially all assets through a Chapter 11 Section 363 court-supervised process.
Deal team analyst from pitch through execution. Supported marketing materials, financial and operating analysis, buyer outreach, diligence, process management, and transaction execution throughout the court-supervised sale.2024 · BAIRD
CCM Hockey to Altor Equity Partners
CCM, a portfolio company of Birch Hill Equity Partners, was sold to Altor Equity Partners. Terms not disclosed.
Deal team analyst from pitch through execution. Built the teaser, CIM, and management presentation; analyzed raw operating and customer data; and supported valuation, buyer universe development, process tracking, and diligence.SELECTED WORK
How I approach different kinds of problems.
Examples of operating design, investment judgment, and technical modeling.
01
OPERATING DESIGN
Building a Corporate Development Function
When I joined, the company had acquisition priorities but no dedicated M&A operating cadence. Every opportunity still had to move through the same questions: Is it strategically relevant? What do we actually know? What is missing? Who owns the next answer?
I built the intake, screening, investment memo, diligence, reporting, and integration cadence, then ran it across 30+ acquisition opportunities.
30+Opportunities screened
20+Investment memos
~6Advanced to or through LOI
INTERACTIVE CASE DETAILSee how the process changed once it was liveOpenClose+
WHAT CHANGED ONCE THE PROCESS WAS LIVE
The cadence kept getting revised as it met real transactions. One example: early diligence relied too heavily on broad feedback requests to busy functional teams working across time zones. I replaced that with function-specific review folders and Key Diligence Findings templates, so each team knew what to review and which questions they owned.
- Cross-functional due diligence across finance, legal, sales, operations, HR, and IT
- Quality of earnings (QoE) and legal advisors coordinated
- Executive and sponsor reporting
- Day 1 readiness and integration planning
02
INVESTMENT JUDGMENT · ANONYMIZED
Conditional Investment Recommendation
Valuation alone could not answer the decision. What mattered was whether the operating case could actually support the return case: whether margins could improve, whether the revenue was contractually durable, and whether the customer concentration was manageable.
I built the five-year model and valuation work, then used diligence to test those conditions rather than treating the model assumptions as facts.
INTERACTIVE CASE DETAILWhat the model had to answerOpenClose+
Not what it was worth, but what had to hold. The valuation range was the easy part. The harder question was which operating assumptions the return case actually depended on, and which of those diligence could verify before signing.
03
MODELING · ANONYMIZED
Building the Model When No Template Exists
I was given a connected fitness business that had no ready made analytical template. I built hardware unit economics, subscription cohort analysis, valuation, and proceeds analysis, then used the first version to get sharper questions and rebuild.
Build something concrete enough to be challenged.
What it enabled
A single view of hardware economics, subscription behavior, and owner proceeds that management and buyers could use to compare structurally different offers.
HOW I WORK
I define what must be true.
Before recommending action, I turn the thesis into conditions that can actually be tested.
I build something concrete enough to be challenged.
When there is no template, I make the problem concrete enough for someone to argue with.
I keep the decision path visible.
Anyone on the project should be able to say who owns what, what is blocked, and what gets decided next.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Transaction training, then in-house ownership.
AGS Health
Corporate Development ManagerFirst dedicated M&A hire at a Blackstone-backed healthcare services company.
Livingstone Partners
Investment Banking Senior AnalystMiddle-market generalist investment banking, including execution on a publicly disclosed court-supervised transaction.
Robert W. Baird
Investment Banking Analyst, ConsumerConsumer investment banking across approximately eight live sell-side processes, from marketing and buyer outreach through diligence, management presentations, and closing.
Chase
Associate BankerClient-facing consumer banking while completing my Accounting and Finance degrees.
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
Master of Science in Finance
Teaching Assistant, MBA Mergers & Acquisitions (FIN438)
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
BBA Accounting · BBA Finance
Dual degreeCREDENTIALS
Passed FINRA Series 79 and SIEWall Street Prep Financial Modeling Certification
ABOUT
Analysis is the easy half.
What I enjoy most about transaction work is that the answer is rarely sitting in one model.
I like problems where there is no correct answer to look up. You have to decide which assumptions matter, what evidence would change the recommendation, and when the team knows enough to move.
My working style is practical. I would rather build a first version, expose the assumptions, and invite challenge than wait for perfect information. I would also rather say plainly what the evidence does not yet support than force it into a cleaner answer.
I bring an entrepreneurial mindset and am most energized by collaborative, technology-forward teams where people can challenge ideas, make decisions, and execute together.
OUTSIDE OF WORK
Outside the deal work.
MUSIC
Long before finance
Music has been part of my life much longer than finance. I sing, write songs, and play piano, guitar, violin, and drums. I have competed in singing competitions over the years, and music is also how I met my wife.
2× First Place · 1× Runner-Up
糯糯 · NUONUO
My favorite off-screen company
When I am not working or making music, there is a good chance I am spending time with Nuonuo.
CONTACT
Get in touch.
I am exploring Corporate Development, Strategic Finance, and selected strategic project roles where I can bring an entrepreneurial mindset, collaborate across functions, and stay close to both the decision and the execution.
Emaillzhu07@outlook.com ↗LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/lisazhu07 ↗Book 30 minutesSchedule a conversation ↗
Résumé available on request.