Asian Mobile Service Provider

Case Study Prompt

Your client is a mobile service provider in an Asian country. They were targeting the high and medium income segments in the country. Recently they acquired another service provider which targets the lower income segment of the market.

The two companies have two different brands before, and they kept both brands after the merge. To the CEO’s surprise, the overall pre-tax profit has been lower than the combined pre-tax profit of the two companies when they were not merged.

You have been hired to figure out why and how can we improve.

How can we identify the problem, and what can we do to come up with a solution to fix it?

Case Study Overview

Your client has acquired a new company with a different brand and has chosen to keep the brands separate. They are not experiencing the increase in profits they were expecting. The client needs your help to find the source of the problem and give them suggestions for fixing it. In this Bain consulting case practice, it’s up to you to give the client a strong yes/no recommendation on how to advance. In an M&A case, pay attention to the type of buyer you’re serving (corporate or financial). They each have different goals!

Are you preparing for a final round Bain interview? We recommend using the M&A Framework to solve this case, but don’t let it put you in a box. The most sought after candidates are those who can take an existing framework and make it their own by bringing their unique expertise to the table. So don’t be shy! Show them what you can come up with.

The qualitative difficulty is 3 out of 4, which makes this an advanced case interview you would more likely see in a Bain final round.

Bain Interview Tips

What does Bain look for in its case interview candidates? They want candidates who can bring real solutions to real problems.

When building your structure, think of how you would assign work-streams to the team you manage to give your solution a real world application.

In this case, focus on a couple of things:

1. Time yourself throughout the case (2min to build structure and 2min to present it; 2min each for a brainstorming question; 2min for final recommendation)
2. Focus on your overall polish as you walk through the case
3. Concentrate on your communication; is it clear and concise?

For consulting case practice with an expert, book an hour with an ex-MBB coach.