MSc in Corporate Finance

Course Overview

The MSc in Corporate Finance at the London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a one-year UK Master's for candidates targeting the City corporate-finance path — investment banking analyst programmes, transaction services at a London Big Four practice, mid-market M&A boutiques and in-house corporate-development desks at UK plcs. Sitting in the Accounting, Finance & Economics faculty, the programme covers advanced valuation, deal structuring, leveraged finance, treasury and a live deal-case capstone defended in front of a working M&A practitioner.

The MSc is shaped around the CFA UK Level 2 syllabus, the ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty diploma and the ACCA Advanced Financial Management competencies. Study runs one year full-time (two years part-time on the online or distance routes) and is available on-campus in central London near the Square Mile, fully online with UK / APAC cohort calls, or by distance learning. Every student is allocated a dissertation supervisor who is a working corporate-financier at cohort start.

Key Features

• Curriculum designed around the CFA UK Level 2 syllabus, the ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty diploma and ACCA Advanced Financial Management.
• Three study modes — central London campus, fully online with UK / APAC cohort calls, or distance learning.
• Live deal-case capstone modelled on a mid-market UK M&A transaction and defended before a working practitioner.
• Fortnightly senior-practitioner clinic with a City M&A associate, a Big Four transaction-services director and a corporate-development head.
• Executive-application coaching for City banking, transaction services and corporate-development interview processes in the final term.
• Dissertation supervisor allocated at cohort start from a working corporate-finance pool.

What You Will Learn

The MSc organises corporate finance around the working questions a City analyst actually owns: what is this business worth on Tuesday morning, how does the deal fund, what breaks in due diligence, and how do we defend the case to a partner or committee.

• Advanced valuation — DCF at plc level, trading and transaction comparables, sum-of-the-parts.
• M&A execution — target screening, information memoranda, due-diligence workstreams, SPA negotiation basics.
• Leveraged finance and debt advisory — LBO modelling, covenant design, unitranche structures.
• Equity capital markets — IPO mechanics, follow-on offerings, London Stock Exchange listing rules.
• Debt capital markets — investment-grade issuance, high-yield structures, LIBOR-to-SONIA transition context.
• Corporate treasury — capital structure, liquidity, working-capital financing.
• Financial statement analysis and quality-of-earnings work under IFRS and UK GAAP.
• UK Corporate Governance Code implications for M&A and section 172 board decisions.
• Transaction ethics and the ICAEW code — conflicts, insider dealing, market abuse.
• Dissertation research on an original corporate-finance question, supervised end-to-end.

Who This Course Is For

• Finance graduates targeting City investment banking or transaction-services analyst programmes.
• ACCA and CIMA finalists formalising a Master's alongside corporate-finance progression.
• Mid-career finance professionals moving from FP&A into corporate development.
• CFA candidates pairing chartered progression with a UK Master's credential.
• International finance graduates preparing for a UK City corporate-finance career.

Career Pathways

Graduates typically progress into analyst and associate roles across City investment banks, mid-market M&A boutiques, Big Four transaction-services teams and in-house corporate-development desks. The MSc supports applications but does not by itself guarantee interview outcomes at any specific firm.

• Corporate Finance Analyst
• M&A Analyst
• Investment Banking Analyst
• Transaction Services Executive
• Corporate Development Associate
• Treasury Analyst

The MSc articulates directly into the ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty diploma and provides useful preparation for the CFA UK Level 2 sitting.

Entry Requirements

• A UK 2:2 honours degree in finance, accounting, economics, mathematics or a quantitative discipline, or an equivalent international qualification. A short numeracy diagnostic is set at application and applicants with three years of substantive corporate-finance or transaction-services experience may apply on a portfolio route.
• GCSE English Language at grade 5/C (or equivalent) is required for domestic applicants; international applicants meet the language rule below.
• IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
• A short statement of intent (600 words) explaining research or applied interests, plus two references (one academic, one workplace or professional-body).

Why Study at LSIBM

The London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a specialist business-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. Postgraduate cohorts run in small tutor-visible groups, are shaped by working senior practitioners (partner-level at a Big Four firm, Fellow-level at CIM or CIPD, CFA charter-holders in investment routes) and close with a substantial dissertation, sponsor consulting project or applied capstone defended in front of a working panel.

London puts the City, Canary Wharf, Whitehall, Companies House, the FCA, the Bank of England, the West End and the major consulting, banking and multinational headquarters within a short tube ride of every classroom. LSIBM postgraduates attend a fortnightly senior-practitioner clinic and a structured executive-application coaching programme in the final term.

Apply for the MSc in Corporate Finance

Step into the senior track with the MSc in Corporate Finance. Click Enrol Now and admissions will reply within one working day with intake dates, dissertation supervisor allocation guidance and the current fee schedule. LSIBM postgraduates are supported by dedicated executive-application coaching in the final term.