What would happen if a Brazilian business firm wanted to acquire an Argentinean firm?

Fifty students in Binghamton University’s School of Management will battle out the answer on campus on March 18 in the Harvard Business M & A Competition.

Hosted by SOM’s Finance Society, the second-annual business case competition will have students play the role of investment bank advisers and present their recommendations on a merger and acquisition deal. Competitors will tackle issues like foreign exchange and political risk.

Participants, twice as many as last year, are members of the Finance Society who wanted to learn more about real world mergers and acquisitions. The competition, which is split into 10 teams, is not limited to those concentrated in finance. All majors are accepted.

“The interest and demand for this event is very high,” said Andrea Weiss, president of the Finance Society. “We are really excited about the strong interest that this competition has been met with.”

While SOM has been involved in other business case competitions, this is Binghamton’s first finance case competition, according to Dina Layish, faculty adviser to the Finance Society.

Groups have two weeks to prepare PowerPoint presentations on a solution to the complex financial scenario. The preliminary rounds are judged by professors. Three or four teams will compete in the final round, which will be judged by local high level business professionals from such companies as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin.

The winner takes homes an award certificate and “bragging rights,” Layish said.