Corporate Finance

CISI Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations (UK)

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Structured preparation for the Level 6 MAMR unit in the CISI Diploma in Corporate Finance, covering all five current syllabus elements and the case-study assessment structure.

120 Practice Questions Detailed Study Notes Realistic Mock Exams

Course syllabus information reviewed for 2026. Always check the awarding body’s latest official syllabus and candidate updates before booking or sitting your exam.

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5 mock exams × 30 questions · 120 unique questions · 150 total question slots · unlimited retakes
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150 searchable references, including 19 complete worked calculations.
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Prepare for the CISI MAMR exam

Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations is the Level 6 third unit in the current route to the CISI Diploma in Corporate Finance. It develops the transaction, financing and regulatory judgement required to evaluate acquisitions, disposals, demergers and listed-company obligations.

The course follows the latest official syllabus structure reviewed for 2026. The 70-minute examination contains 30 questions: 15 standalone questions and three case studies with five questions each. Question styles may include multiple choice, drag and drop, numerical answer and multiple response questions.

Study all five chapters with 123 flashcards and 150 searchable references, including 19 complete worked calculations. Practise with four original 30-question papers and a fifth mixed paper: 120 unique questions, each with an explanation, plus a course-grounded AI tutor. Our practice supports single and multiple selection; numerical methods and sequencing are adapted to selected response. The 21/30 practice target is not a confirmed official CISI pass mark.

Key Benefits

End-to-end acquisition analysis

Connect acquisition strategy, due diligence and public-offer execution with the documents and decisions used in practice.

✓ Target selection and synergies
✓ Private and public acquisition processes
✓ Takeover Code and transaction documents

Deal structure and value effects

Evaluate how purchase structure, consideration and financing affect the acquirer and target shareholders.

✓ Share and asset purchases
✓ Cash, shares, loan stock and deferred consideration
✓ EPS, ROCE, ROIC and merger gains

Listed-market regulation

Prepare for the rules and ethical considerations that govern listed and quoted-company transactions.

✓ UK Listing Rules and prospectus requirements
✓ DTR, UK MAR and AIM Rules
✓ Governance, financial crime and regulatory intervention

Syllabus

Module 1: Making Acquisitions

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M&A strategy, target selection, synergies, due diligence, private and public acquisition processes, the Takeover Code, agreed and hostile offers, and transaction documentation. The fixed standalone section allocates four questions to this element.

• M&A strategy and alternatives
• Target selection and synergy analysis
• Private-company due diligence
• Public offers, schemes and the Takeover Code

Module 2: Deal Structuring and Financing

Share and asset purchases, acquisition pricing, forms of consideration, financing documentation, earn-outs, variable rates, deal effects and the allocation of merger gains. The fixed standalone section allocates three questions to this element.

• Share purchase versus asset purchase
• Control premia and marketability discounts
• Consideration and financing options
• EPS, financial risk, ROCE, ROIC and merger gains

Module 3: Disposals and Demergers

Disposal motivations and sale processes, purchaser selection, auctions, and the benefits, problems and implementation methods associated with demergers. The fixed standalone section allocates three questions to this element.

• Corporate and personal disposal motivations
• Traditional and alternative sale methods
• Auction processes
• Dividend, scheme and liquidation demergers

Module 4: Main Regulations for Listed and Quoted Companies

UK Listing Rules, prospectus requirements, continuing obligations, UK MAR, significant and related-party transactions, reverse takeovers and AIM Rules. The fixed standalone section allocates two questions to this element.

• UK Listing Rules and sponsors
• Prospectus approval and publication
• DTR, UK MAR and continuing obligations
• AIM Rules for Companies

Module 5: Other Regulatory and Ethical Considerations

The UK regulatory environment, ethics, governance, company and financial-market legislation, financial crime, competition, pensions and national-security intervention. The fixed standalone section allocates three questions to this element.

• FCA and market structures
• Professional ethics and corporate governance
• Companies Act, FSMA and conduct requirements
• Market abuse, financial crime and regulatory intervention

Frequently Asked Questions

Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations is a 70-minute computer-based examination containing 30 questions. It may use multiple choice, drag and drop, numerical answer and multiple response formats. Computer-based tests may also include up to 10% additional unidentified trial questions with proportionately more time.

The paper has 15 standalone questions plus three case studies with five questions each. The standalone questions are allocated 4, 3, 3, 2 and 3 across the five syllabus elements, while each case study may cover any element.

MAMR is the Level 6 third on-demand unit in the current Diploma route. It follows Level 3 Financial Reporting and Financial Statements Analysis and Level 4 Sources of Finance, Capital Investments and Valuations, before Corporate Finance Strategy and Advice.

It covers making acquisitions, deal structuring and financing, disposals and demergers, regulations for listed and quoted companies, and other regulatory and ethical considerations.

Five study chapters, 123 flashcards, 150 searchable references including 19 worked calculations, four original 30-question mocks and a fifth mixed paper, plus a course-grounded AI tutor. The bank contains 120 unique questions. Practice uses single and multiple selection; it does not reproduce the official numerical-input or drag-and-drop interface.

Yes! Test your knowledge and review detailed explanations with the free CISI Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations Mock Exam Preview below. It contains 15 exam-style questions from one named syllabus topic; the full course provides complete mock exams and syllabus coverage.

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Free CISI Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations Practice Questions & Exam Preview

Try 15 CISI Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations practice questions from Making Acquisitions

Practice CISI Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations exam questions with answers and explanations. The full course includes 5 mock exams and complete syllabus coverage.

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Making Acquisitions

Question 1 of 15

A manufacturer can buy a distributor immediately or build its own network over three years. Which analysis best supports an acquisition recommendation?

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Flashcards

Card 1 of 10Making Acquisitions

Question

Why can a strategically attractive acquisition still destroy value?

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Focus Learn

Key Examinable Areas10

Acquisition as a growth strategy
Target selection
Revenue, cost, financial and optionality synergies
Why acquisitions fail
Organic growth, licensing and joint ventures
Joint-venture legal forms
Private acquisition sequence
Vendor versus purchaser due diligence
Seven due-diligence workstreams
Confidentiality, heads and SPA

Common Pitfalls to Avoid3

Exam Traps6

Key Numbers10

The Code has statutory backing under the Companies Act 2006 and is administered by the Takeover Panel. Relevant UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man incorporation and market admission determine its current scope. The ongoing two-year delisting run-off is separate from the transitional regime ending 3 February 2027. Consult the Panel on borderline scope or interpretation; private ownership alone does not decide applicability.
The Panel administers and interprets the Code, gives rulings, monitors transactions and enforces compliance; it does not recommend a transaction’s investment merits. Instrument 2026/1, effective 1 May 2026, reduced the constitution’s maximum to 33 members including nine institutional representatives. Seek a ruling before taking a doubtful step; FCA cold-shouldering can reinforce enforcement.
Approach the target’s board or advisers first. Firm intention, a mandatory-offer obligation, relevant rumours/untoward price movement or widening discussions can trigger announcement duties. A named possible bidder normally has 28 days to announce a firm intention or no intention. A Rule 2.8 no-intention statement normally binds for six months. Neither rumours nor percentage price movements create a safe harbour from consultation.
A contractual offer is made to shareholders, with an acceptance condition normally above 50% and often initially 90% for squeeze-out. A Part 26 scheme uses class meetings, the relevant majority in number and at least 75% in value of members present and voting, court sanction and effectiveness steps; it then binds the class. Modern takeover schemes transfer shares. Cancellation-based takeover schemes were prohibited from 4 March 2015, so do not assume a stamp-duty waiver.
For voting shares under Companies Act 2006 s979, the bidder must acquire or unconditionally contract to acquire by acceptances at least 90% in value of the shares to which the offer relates AND at least 90% of their voting rights. Different classes require the relevant class test. Pre-owned shares are not simply added to an undifferentiated 90% total-company test.
Persons cooperating to obtain or consolidate control may be acting in concert, with rebuttable presumptions for relevant corporate, adviser and personal relationships. A control chain based on at least 30% voting rights or more than 50% equity does not dilute through successive links. A separate at-least-30% equity-interest test multiplies indirect holdings and adds parallel paths. Information barriers alone do not confer Panel exempt status.
Aggregate bidder and concert-party interests. Reaching 30% voting rights, or any increase while holding 30% to 50% inclusive, normally triggers Rule 9. A holder already above 50% is differently situated. The mandatory offer requires cash or a cash alternative at least equal to the highest price paid in the preceding 12 months; its normal acceptance condition is bidder plus concert parties above 50%. Additional conditions need Panel consent.
Independent shareholder approval of a new issue, rescue, genuine inadvertence, unforeseen foreclosure and certain buyback or enfranchisement cases can support a Panel waiver. They are not automatic exemptions. Note 11 permits reinstatement of up to 1% in 12 months in the relevant reduced-holding circumstances, but never above the highest holding in the preceding 12 months; disposals do not replenish the acquisition allowance.
Distinguish Rule 6’s preceding-three-month minimum terms from Rule 11’s cash/securities alternatives. Cash acquisitions of at least 10% during the preceding 12 months normally require a cash offer or alternative at the highest price in that period. Any cash acquisition during the offer period can trigger a cash alternative with the relevant offer-period floor. Securities-exchange acquisitions of at least 10% in the preceding three months can require a securities alternative. Higher in-offer purchases benefit earlier acceptors too.
Comparable treatment across classes is not necessarily an identical per-share price. Consult the Panel on class rights and dual-class changes. Firm offers require deliverable consideration and cash-resource confirmation where applicable. Special deals and management incentives can deny equal treatment and require Rule 16 scrutiny; management participation does not remove the need for independent advice and disclosure.

Chapter 1: Making Acquisitions

An acquisition decision has three linked parts: establish why ownership creates value; investigate and price what is actually being bought; then choose and execute a lawful transaction route. Start a scenario by identifying whether it is a private share/asset negotiation, a contractual public offer or a scheme. Then identify the actor, the security class and the event that starts each clock. A shareholder threshold without its denominator or a deadline without its actor is an incomplete rule.

For example, buying a distributor may provide immediate customer access, but customers could leave after a systems migration. Treat the revenue opportunity, integration cost and retention risk separately. Commercial diligence should test customer dependence; IT diligence should test migration and cyb…

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Who Is This For?

✓ Candidates preparing for the CISI Mergers & Acquisitions and Market Regulations examination

✓ Professionals progressing through the Diploma in Corporate Finance

✓ Corporate-finance practitioners involved in acquisitions, disposals or listed-company transactions

✓ Candidates who have completed the preceding FRFS and SFCIV units or qualify through an accepted route