Consumer/Retail Groups

Hey Everyone,

Does anyone have opinions on Consumer/Retail groups? Are the exit opportunities similar to every other group? Retail seems like it would be useful in PE. What banks are best known for their retail group? Any other information on the retail group would be great.

 

BAML is not a top consumer shop. Centerview and GS are the best. Laz, C, DB and PWP are also good. You need strong coverage in the consumer/retail space as the big hitter clients (ie Altria) generate most of the fees.

Lehman used to be good but Barclays hasn't replicated the same success. They got cut from the Cadbury deal.

Exit ops depend on the bank obviously but most PE shops have a consumer/retail/general industrials focus.

 

Barcap retail is top notch (consumer not so much). Only downside to retail is that it isn't that complicated and it's possible for someone with adhd to get bored over time, 4-wall ebitda only goes so far.

 

Get your facts straight. Lehman used to be tops. They worked on a bunch of Altria deals in 07 and 08 (Kraft spinoff, UST). Centerview is good because Blair and Bob Pruzan (former president at Wasserstein Perella) are there. In fact, Wasserstein was by far the best consumer shop on the street. Bruce and Joe ran sht and ppl below them picked it up from the best (Kenneth Tuchman, Bob Pruzan, etc).

 

I agree that Lehman worked on two big Altria deals. But as far as I can remember, those are the only two >5Bn deals that they've done in the US in the past 5 years or so. (Please correct me if I am wrong here.) On the other hand, they have missed all of these following big US consumer deals, even before they were acquired by Barclays: - AB-InBev - Gillette-P&G - Wrigley-Mars - Dr. Pepper-Cadbury - Gerber-Nestle

Also, they worked on the spin-off of Philip Morris, but they never worked on the acquisition of UST later in 2008. (even though it was only a 11Bn deal, much smaller than the spin-off of Philip Morris).

If you want to add missed deals after Barclays' acquisition, you will have - PAS/PBG-Pepsi - Cadbury-Kraft - Mead Johnson-BMS

You do not rate a team top notch because of two deals. They are still a decent team, but won't be Top 5.

Get your facts straight.

 
slowslowquickquick:
I know BAML C&R has a sweatshop rep, but not sure if its from dealflow or pitch-happy MDs.

Interested in this group as well. Anyone know about the culture of the office?

 
slowslowquickquick:
I know BAML C&R has a sweatshop rep, but not sure if its from dealflow or pitch-happy MDs.

The answer is deal flow. They have league table leading IPO activity (25% market share with next closest competitor being 8%, and they have garner more market share for IPOs than the next 4 competitors combined). Everyone gets so hung up on M&A (which they still do really well in) but forget about equity/debt.

The group does have a sweat shop culture, though... I know some people that work there so feel free to PM if you have any questions...

 

On the BB side, Goldman and JPM are the best banks for consumer, and Barclays is the best for retail (they have a dedicated retail group that is seperate from their consumer group, which is mediocre at best). However, Centerview is better than all the above; their two founders, Blair Effron and Robert Pruzan are absolutely dominant in the space, have been for many years and are consistently on almost all the top deals. They did Del Monte, RalCorp, all those Pepsi deals; if it's Consumer, you name it, they're probably on it. Very few banks dominate a particular vertical the way Centerview dominates consumer, largely due to Blair and Robert.

 

Agree w/ TheBlueCheese, Sawaya Segalas is pretty good. I know an Associate over there who worked on a deal in household products (Method Soap) - they've also done some pharma deals too. Pretty active, good deal flow. I know Lion Capital, one of the senior execs over there is an avid art collector. From what I know about the firm, they seem to hire people with international backgrounds (banks/schools in Europe). Looks like a cool place to work for though.

 
mashed potatoes:
not sure why this firm hasn't been mentioned, ZS Associates. they dominate the retail/consumer products consulting market...

Is'nt ZS more of a Life science/ Pharma focused firm? I haven't heard of them doing any consulting engagement for retail segment - Can you help me understand the basis on which you suggest ZS is strong in Retail?

 

Thanks for all the comments guys! I tried to do some research on Kurt Salmon but couldn't find much outside their website/Vault guide. Do they recruit at most bschools or would I need to reach out to them?

Also, when interviewing for MBB, can I be asked to be placed in a specific group? Or is everyone a generalist?

 
corinthians:
Thanks for all the comments guys! I tried to do some research on Kurt Salmon but couldn't find much outside their website/Vault guide. Do they recruit at most bschools or would I need to reach out to them?

Also, when interviewing for MBB, can I be asked to be placed in a specific group? Or is everyone a generalist?

You will come in as a generalist - full stop.

 

From hearing about interviews we've done with lateral candidates, Kurt Salmon might not be doing so well right now...only one data point, but just a thought.

Also, one of the top 5 five reasons I chose my firm and office combination was consumer/retail strength. So make sure that if this is your #1 interest, find offices where lots of this kind of work is done. Just makes staffing a lot easier.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
 
bankbanker101:

Solid groups exist at GS/JP/Barc/BAML/C

haven't heard much about any other BB

does this mean that Guggenheim consumer/retail arm will be a top contender now that they got these ex-barcap heads of global retail and other MDs?

http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/04/30/street-moves-Guggenheim-partners-adds-five-senior-bankers-from-Barclays/

I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought- GG
 

C isn't so strong in consumers anymore. They used to be a powerhouse in C&R, but all the talent jumped ship to MS during the crisis. Currently have a friend working at MS C&R--good deal flow and culture, lot of senior ex-Citi guys.

Edited to add: Believe MS C&R has also placed a couple of people into KKR in recent memory.

 
jiminycricket:
C isn't so strong in consumers anymore. They used to be a powerhouse in C&R, but all the talent jumped ship to MS during the crisis. Currently have a friend working at MS C&R--good deal flow and culture, lot of senior ex-Citi guys.

Edited to add: Believe MS C&R has also placed a couple of people into KKR in recent memory.

This

 
jss09:

I was talking to an associate at BAML the other day and he said they are far and away the best at C&R, said he interviewed at almost all the BB during his MBA and that was his #1 choice. Definitely anecdotal and I have no idea if thats true, just what I was told.

Take a look at how many associates left BAML C&R within a year.

http://dealbreaker.com/2013/05/quitting-watch-13-bank-of-america/

 

Interested to hear more about this.

I don't know a lot about this, but from what I have heard the top groups are Citi, CS and GS.

And about how to differentiate... I don't know... maybe show some knowledge about the most important deals of lately, the ones that are going on or rumoured? Trading comps for the sector? Trends affecting the performance of the competitors in the space (recession, commodities, etc...)?

 

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