Trending Content
| +145 | The "Not So Obvious" things that get you a return offer? | 18 | 1h | |
| +76 | Is my life over after not getting GS? | 18 | 2h | |
| +56 | Best IB group on the Street | 22 | 1h | |
| +52 | BIG FOUR ARE PARADISE | 13 | 6h | |
| +45 | Thoughts and tips on how to speak like an investment banker. | 23 | 2h | |
| +40 | Tell me one good reason why Jefferies isn’t going to be a top bank in the next 5 years | 20 | 16h | |
| +36 | UBS Outlook | 28 | 17h | |
| +35 | Georgetown Placement for 2024 and 2025 | 21 | 6d | |
| +31 | Highest Paid Bankers in Toronto? | 50 | 1d | |
| +30 | How to deal with egotistical team? | 6 | 2d |
Career Resources
i knew a guy who said he did m&a for ticketmaster...i think it was ticketmaster. i laughed at him and asked how much m&a business ticketmaster really did if they werent even an investment bank. he wasnt happy.
but it looks like non-financial institutions sometimes do their own m&a in-house? if thats true, i feel like a dick head.
no point to my comment, this topic just caught my attention. if it helps, the same dude moved onto a top 3 mba after ticketmaster, and i think he works for a bb now.
Very few companies will do all their M&A in house, for a large number of reasons - however, almost all larger companies will have in house M&A teams so that they don't have to call a banker every time the CEO has an interesting idea.
I haven't done M&A in-house personally, but I do know several guys who work on in-house M&A teams, and they all seem to really enjoy it. All are post-MBA and most are former bankers, and while the pay isn't as high as it'd be in finance, the hours are markedly better, and you get to take a broader and more strategic view, so it's basically the same trade-off you're looking at whenever you go in to industry.
I did an internship at a Fortune 500 company in in-house M&A. From my experience I agree with Drexel, hours are much better and pay is much lower. Generally speaking, I found it much more interesting than the banking internship I did for several reasons.
People really know their industry (certainly better than any banker advising them) and do not need to read through pointless research paper to retrieve phrases like "with its new technology xyz company a expects additional revenue of $500MM over the next 5 years well ahead of competition" in order to copy them and paste them in a pitch book. This leads me to my next pro-in-house argument: no pitch books. You sit on the other side of the table looking at the 50 pages thick pitch book. 45 pages of those 50 just tell you stuff you already know (v. my first point no banker knows better). The remaining 5 pages show you some additional data you have not noticed before and are at least of little interest. My third pro-in-house agrument: You run through the complete deal cycle from sourcing to closing including any required valuation modeling which is so sought after here on WSO.
To put it all together Banking: far worse hours, much higher pay (not on a hourly basis though - but this is no new stuff), much better exit ops (especially in industry in-house M&A), much more prestige (for those retards who care), deal experience I do not know (there are quite some acquisitive companies and deals can be few at times at banks so can go in both directions) In-house M&A: just the opposite in the aforemention points.
Some serial acquirers will do the vast majority of their M&A in-house, even sometimes not using bankers for "big" deals. For instance, Cisco, Google, and Oracle all have robust in-house M&A groups - Oracle didn't even use bankers for the Sun deal last year. On top of that, Google seems to buy another startup every week, and there are rarely, if ever, bankers involved in that. That said, for most big deals even those companies will hire bankers.
That's because when you and your buddy who have gathered enough money to hire 4 additional programmers are approached by Google and offered $75m, you pull the damn keys out of your pocket and walk away...fast.
I'm sure there are a few tech companies that would be "fun" to work in-house M&A for, Google being one of them.
I have a buddy who did IB, then VC and now does in-house M&A for a medical something or other and he enjoys it. They have acquired a couple companies since he has been there but nothing you would see in the headlines. The hours are way better and truth be told, I think it was his best choice since he didn't want to move and didn't want to go back to bschool.
Regards
I'm looking at a couple of companies that have gone public in the recent past and specified their Use of Proceeds as for acquisitions. They'll definitely be active in M&A for the next few years and it sounds very interesting. Most already have an in-house M&A head with a BB background or similar (MBB). Just wondering if anyone's had experience with anything like that.
Bumping an old thread with a question: What do in-house m&a guys do during years when their company isn't quite as active in terms of acquisitions?
They're always reasonably busy. Even when deals aren't live they're working with the operational groups / BD groups to source new acquisitions or working with the ops guys to integrate an acquisition.
I'm moving into an in-house role after a long time in banking. For those of us that aren't top bucket and won't be making MD any time soon its a pretty good way of exiting and getting advancement opportunities due to weaker competition.
wage slave- Is it easier to move up in-house if you start there, or if you do IB first? I guess the real question is, where do you start off when you move in from banking? One spot above entry-level, 2, 3, etc?
Also, how does in-house pay compared to Banking?
you would probably be better off making VP and then moving than moving at the associate level, as it would be easier to advance in IB becasue the path is more defined ?
Is this true?
Pretty much. 3rd year+ associate / VP is probably the earliest you can make the switch in order to get some benefit out of it. Ideal time is probably when you've hit Director in terms of pay / position but you would need to be coverage in the sector that your new employer operates in to get the maximum benefit. Guys that have product experience like ECM / lev fin will probably find it harder as those skills will rarely be used.
Far easier to move up in house once you've got banking experience, particularly at a top tier in your geography as you're generally regarded as someone who has excellent skills that can work long hours. I'm sub 30 (barely) but have snagged a very senior role, with a commensurate step up in terms of base salary + options and progression opportunities internally - many group heads come through the M&A team's ranks due to the quality of the hires. Obviously corporates don't pay out big bonuses, but in the current climate you're unlikely to get a good one anyway.
The money is not enough to sustain the baller lifestyle that many on here aspire to (that a tiny fraction of whom will ever achieve). For me its a lifestyle change - I want to have kids that I actually get to see once in a while. That and I spent all my excess income building a debt free asset base that makes me less reliant on my take home pay.
I know quite a few people that have gone in house as in my region there are far fewer exit ops to PE / HF's compared to London or NYC. Consequently, there's less stigma about it and a lot of opportunities to transfer back to IBs after a few years.
So basically it sounds like in terms of F500 advancement, it helps to get the banking experience. I'm completely with you on the lifestyle part (thats why I'm interested) and I know that the overall pay will be lower. I was just curious of a ballpark figure, say hourly compared to banking. I don't need to be making it rain in clubs, just enough to support a nice lifestyle for myself/family.
Base pay is usually 20-30% greater than IBD but won't advance as much, and bonuses will be max 40%.
Interesting posts man, thanks.
Bump
What are the chances for in-house analysts to go to top 10-15 MBA programs and then move to banking? Especially if you do not work at Google or Cisco but you are in another "average" F500?
ur screwed
Voluptatem beatae delectus iste minima sed. Iure aspernatur recusandae nihil dicta.
Quis hic at ut reiciendis voluptatibus esse quisquam. Qui porro sunt rerum deserunt sint ut molestiae. Voluptatem impedit illo tenetur quasi hic. Ut consequuntur perferendis facilis cupiditate et.
Dolores minima expedita omnis vel. Perspiciatis et occaecati fugit deserunt. Iusto exercitationem similique aut accusantium consequatur quisquam. Id sint in suscipit dolor mollitia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...