How to Use an M&A Simulation to Develop Negotiation Skills in Finance Courses

TLDR

If you're teaching finance and want students to really understand negotiation - not just memorise valuation frameworks - an M&A simulation is one of the most effective tools you can use.

It puts students in the roles of buyers and sellers, each with opposing objectives, shifting leverage, and asymmetric information. They negotiate terms, valuation, deal structure, and strategy. It’s practical, immersive, and stress-tested for real-world application.

The result? Students stop guessing what good negotiation looks like. They start experiencing it.

Choose the Most Appropriate M&A Simulation for Your Course

Not all simulations are created equal.

Some are spreadsheet-heavy, high-friction, and barely interactive. Others feel like board games dressed up as finance. Neither will serve you - or your students - well.

A well-designed M&A simulation should offer:

• Realistic role dynamics: distinct positions with different access to information and leverage
• Structured tension: deadlines, shifting market conditions, or unexpected board feedback
• Negotiation levers: valuation, synergies, equity splits, earn-outs, governance, and risk
• Outcome variability: more than one ‘right answer,’ to encourage strategy, not prescription

At Finsimco, we’ve developed simulations with these exact features. Our first prototype came out of Morgan Stanley’s deal teams, where we noticed the same problem again and again - new hires understood spreadsheets, but froze when asked to think like a counterparty.

So we built a tool that put them in that counterparty’s shoes. Bankers played buyers, sellers, and advisors, debating live transactions and adapting in real time. What started as a side project became a transformative training method.

Now, with over 10 simulations launched, each refined through hundreds of hours of testing, we focus on accuracy, tension, and depth - so that educators like you can focus on what matters: student engagement and insight.

Schedule the Simulation’s Use Wisely

A good simulation dropped into the wrong week is a missed opportunity.

You’ll want to time it after students have been exposed to key M&A concepts - valuation, strategic fit, deal structure - but before they become too theoretical in their thinking.

Here’s what tends to work well:

• Mid-point of term: they’ve got enough context, but still open minds
• Capstone module: particularly if you're using M&A to explore leadership, ethics, or risk
• Intensive workshop: for executive learners or condensed MBA-style courses

You’ll also want to allocate proper time for briefing and debriefing - it’s where most of the reflection (and therefore the value) occurs.

We typically recommend 2.5 to 3 hours including discussion time, or more if you want students to write memos or reflect on outcomes.

Simulation case tip:

In our M&A module, we build in unexpected turns - regulatory risks, activist pressure, revised earnings - so timing becomes part of the pressure. Students don’t just need to negotiate. They need to adapt while doing it.

Prepare Yourself and Your Students for This M&A Simulation

A strong simulation needs more than good software or printed role cards. It needs deliberate framing.

First, prepare yourself:

• Know the mechanics: Run through the simulation as a participant or observer first. Understand the turning points, pressure points, and where misunderstandings often occur.
• Set expectations: Let your students know this isn’t a “game.” It’s a compressed model of real negotiation with meaningful ambiguity.
• Plan for the unexpected: In a well-built simulation, no two cohorts will take the same path. Be ready to adapt your debrief based on what actually happens.

Now, prepare your students:

• Explain the stakes: Who are they representing? What do they need to win? What will success look like - and what will it cost?
• Review foundational concepts: Refresh terms like control premiums, synergies, due diligence, and post-deal integration. Not too much. Just enough.
• Coach them on mindset: The simulation isn’t about “winning.” It’s about learning how to think like a negotiator - what to concede, when to push, and how to listen.

At Finsimco, we’ve seen learners freeze if they feel underprepared. So in our M&A simulation, we offer short video primers and quickfire case examples built into the platform. We also give educators a real-world facilitation guide - based on what’s worked (and flopped) across institutions.

And then we step back. Because the most valuable learning happens when you let students make real choices. And occasionally, real mistakes.

One professor told us, “They blew up the deal over a 2% equity difference. But the debrief discussion afterwards? That was gold.”

Exactly.

Enjoy the Rewards

When it works - and it usually does - the payoff is visible.

Here’s what you can expect to see, even in a single session:

• Sharper communication: Students become more concise, more direct, more aware of tone.
• Deeper empathy: They stop seeing the other party as “the obstacle” and start understanding their constraints.
• Tactical fluency: They learn when to anchor, when to delay, and when to walk.
• Realism in valuation: It stops being a spreadsheet exercise and starts being about negotiation range, deal narrative, and fallback positions.

The biggest shift, though? Confidence.

It’s not just that they’ve learned what M&A negotiation feels like. It’s that they’ve felt it - under pressure, in role, with consequences. They’ve had to adapt, recover, rethink. That sort of experiential knowledge isn’t easy to forget.

At Finsimco, we’ve built this layer into every one of our simulation products. Not just for M&A, but across banking, private equity, venture capital, and corporate finance. The principles are the same: let participants experience real tension, under real constraints, with the safety net of guided reflection.

Because the reward isn’t in “winning the deal.” It’s in building the muscle to negotiate again - and better - next time.

Troubleshooting Thoughts

Even the best M&A simulation isn’t immune to friction. The issues that crop up are usually less about content, and more about framing, facilitation, or follow-up.

Here are a few things to watch for - and how to deal with them:

Problem 1: Students play it too safe

What’s happening? They’re afraid of looking foolish, so they avoid risk.
What to do: Reassure them that this isn’t a test. It’s a sandbox. And every good negotiator starts with a few bad offers.

Problem 2: One side dominates

What’s happening? A loud voice or overconfident player takes control. Others disengage.
What to do: Build in structured turns or assign rotating spokesperson roles. And gently intervene if someone’s steamrolling the process.

Problem 3: No deal gets done

What’s happening? The sides can’t agree on valuation, and talks stall.
What to do: Embrace it. It’s a useful lesson. In real life, deals collapse all the time. The debrief becomes a chance to explore why - and what might’ve salvaged it.

In our own simulations at Finsimco, we see these moments not as failures, but teachable peaks. The tension they create leads to real insight - if you’re ready to help students unpack it.

The Good You’ll Do for Your Business School

Running a high-quality M&A simulation does more than enrich a single course. It can elevate your programme’s entire pedagogical identity.

You’ll build:

• Reputation: Among peer institutions, for bringing experiential rigour into the classroom.
• Confidence: Among students, who’ll speak credibly about negotiation in interviews and internships.
• Connection: Between theory and practice - especially valuable for those less engaged by lectures or static case studies.
• Differentiation: Especially in postgraduate or executive education, where students expect applied, relevant, “career-ready” training.

And perhaps most important: you’ll give your students something they’ll remember.

Not just what a premium looks like. But what it feels like to defend it.

Conclusion

How to Use an M&A Simulation to Develop Negotiation Skills in Finance Courses isn’t a trick question. The answer is: carefully, thoughtfully, and with clear outcomes in mind.

A good M&A simulation gives students more than knowledge. It gives them exposure. It lets them test instincts, challenge assumptions, and stretch their understanding of negotiation beyond the tidy pages of a textbook.

At Finsimco, this has been our design philosophy from the start. Coming out of Morgan Stanley, we saw how underprepared many new analysts were - not because they lacked intelligence, but because they’d never been asked to think like the other side. For this reason, we’ve built the Finsimco M&A Simulation to delve deeper into the practical aspects of deal making.

So we built tools that helped them do just that.

We’re proud to see those tools now used in classrooms around the world. Not as showpieces, but as serious learning assets - crafted through rigorous development, gamified to engage, and constantly updated to reflect the financial world your students are entering.

If you’re still wondering whether it’s worth the prep: yes, it is.

Negotiation is a muscle. Simulation helps build it. And your students are ready to stretch.