Greenhill & Co: public research and practice themes

Independent advisory firm. This independent page organizes general study themes alongside public background information; it is not an employer-endorsed interview guide.

Greenhill & Co
Independent advisory firm
HQ New YorkFounded 1996Type Independent advisory
M&A advisoryRestructuring advisoryStrategic advisory
IB Atlas is not affiliated with Greenhill & Co. It does not publish actual, confidential, or leaked interview questions. Confirm current firm information through the firm’s own public materials.

About Greenhill & Co

Greenhill & Co is an independent advisory firm headquartered in New York, founded in 1996 by Robert F. Greenhill. The firm advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and other strategic matters.

Greenhill operates as an independent advisory brand and has been part of Mizuho since 2023, continuing its advisory business under the Greenhill name.

For prep, treat this like any advisory-focused platform. M&A and valuation fundamentals come first, with restructuring as a secondary area worth knowing.

What to emphasize in your prep

Valuationemphasis 3 of 3

Be fluent in trading comparables and precedent transactions, and be ready to explain how you would pick and defend a multiple. Valuation questions test judgment as much as mechanics.

M&Aemphasis 3 of 3

Be ready to walk through how a merger gets evaluated and modeled, including the accretion and dilution math, and to explain the strategic logic in your own words. That connects directly to Greenhill & Co's work in M&A advisory.

Accountingemphasis 2 of 3

Make sure the three financial statements, and how they connect to each other, are automatic. Interviewers use accounting questions to check whether you can reason quickly under pressure, not just recite a definition. That applies to Greenhill & Co as an independent advisory firm, whichever group you talk to.

DCFemphasis 2 of 3

Practice building a discounted cash flow out loud, from unlevered free cash flow through to a defensible valuation range. Be ready to explain every assumption, not just the formula. That connects directly to Greenhill & Co's work in Restructuring advisory.

Practice questions

1Cash Subtracted From Enterprise Value, Explained2Minority Interest in Enterprise Value, Explained3EV/EBITDA's Capital-Structure Neutrality, Explained4Normalizing a Peer's EBITDA, Explained5Control Premium and Its Formula, Explained6Equity Value to EBITDA, Explained7Bolt-On Acquisitions, Explained8Accretion vs Deal Quality, Explained9Financing Mix and Pro Forma EPS, Explained10Costs to Achieve in M&A, Explained11Target Goodwill in an M&A Deal, Explained12DTL Creation in a Stock Deal, Explained13The Three Financial Statements, Explained14COGS vs SG&A: the Difference, Explained

How to talk about Greenhill & Co

  • Be ready to explain why an advisory-focused model appeals to you, since the firm's business is built around client advice rather than balance-sheet products.
  • Deal teams tend to be lean at firms this size. Frame that as a draw: earlier responsibility and closer work with senior bankers.
  • Have your M&A and valuation fundamentals practiced cold, with a working grasp of restructuring basics as a secondary layer.

What to expect from the process

Recruiting at independent advisory firms like Greenhill & Co runs through both structured campus channels and off-cycle, network-driven hiring. Deal teams are lean, so you may meet senior bankers relatively early in the process, and interviews tend to put real weight on the technical fundamentals and on why the advisory model appeals to you specifically. Processes vary by group, office, and recruiting cycle.

Frequently asked questions

Start with the core technical set every group expects: accounting, valuation, and a clean DCF. At Greenhill & Co, put extra time into Valuation, M&A, and Accounting, since that is where the firm's business is concentrated. Processes vary by group, office, and recruiting cycle, so confirm the emphasis with the people you actually talk to.

Recruiting at independent advisory firms like Greenhill & Co runs through both structured campus channels and off-cycle, network-driven hiring. Deal teams are lean, so you may meet senior bankers relatively early in the process, and interviews tend to put real weight on the technical fundamentals and on why the advisory model appeals to you specifically. Processes vary by group, office, and recruiting cycle.

Build the core technicals until they are automatic, then read how Greenhill & Co describes its own business on its own site and be ready to connect that, in your own words, to why you want to work there. Practice saying your answers out loud, not just writing them down.

More firms to prepare for

Prepping for Greenhill & Co? Get the full question bank as a PDF.

General educational practice prompts with study explanations for offline review. They are not firm-provided questions.

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