2 quick questions about working in an M&A group

1) A prospectus is only for an IPO. However, when you go to sell a company you create a similar but less comprehensive document called a CIM (Company Information Memorandum) that, like a prospectus, basically lays out all the information on the company. You send this around to buyers to get them interested.

2) I've seen it go both ways. Some M&A MDs can actually get quite involved in the deal process and effectively be "running" it, whereas others will hand off the work and focus more on relationship maintenance with current/future M&A clients. In general the M&A MDs are more hands on than their counterparts in industry groups.

Thanks, dosk, very helpful answers. What exactly do you mean by "current/future M&A clients?" Are there certain clients that just regularly work with the M&A group rather than the corresponding industry group? Or would that be in conjunction with an industry MD? I guess I'm asking if the M&A MD is responsible for sourcing deals or just managing the client relationships on active deals.

"When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."

AltESV:

1) Do bankers work on prospectuses (prospecti?) in M&A? Or are those typically only for IPOs? 2) What do M&A MDs do? I've read that MDs typically focus less on individual deals and more on managing long-term client relationships, which makes sense for industry group MDs, but how does this work in M&A?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, I'm trying to add detail/credibility to b-school career goals essays.

1) We work on S-4, 13E-3, 13E-4, and 14D-1/14D-9 type M&A disclosure documents, which are often mirror image documents to an S-1/S-3/424B type document. Your work on these documents is usually focused upon the accuracy and scope of the banking work, that is the background of the transaction and the description and disclosure of the advisory and analysis performed. In that way the drafting is different in its focus than that of the capital raising bankers. Sometimes, I will also participate in S-1/S-3 drafting in stealth mode. That is, I show up and introduce myself (but not as an M&A specialist) when we dual-track a process.

2) It depends. On a smaller deal, the MD hands off and shows up for the closing dinner. When you advise a large client, he expects the MD to post. It's a challenge that makes bulge bracket M&A different from middle market work. When you bank GM, they expect their banker to have gray hair. It's why we (unlike small firms) have roles we call "Vice Chairman" or "Chairman of M&A, Emeritus". Because despite whatever it may say on my business card, I just look too young to be the lead M&A banker for Boeing.

If you think that seniro MDs are just "hand-shake" guys though, you couldn't be more wrong. Invariably, the most feared people in the investment bank are some of the most senior guys. Let me put it this way, you don't sweat bullets handing stuff to those guys if you don't think they're paying attention.

Are youthful looks a disadvantage in banking even if you have a lot of experience? I look very very young for my age, and I think i will still look young 10 years down the road compared to my peers.

Oh good, I'm starting to gray already (at 26); Boeing, here I come! Thanks for all of the help, Genghis.

So for GM, or Boeing, do they have a long-term relationship with an M&A MD as well as an industry MD? Or does the industry MD call you in when they are ready to do a deal? Or do they sort of transcend industry groups and just work directly with M&A bankers?

Btw, did not mean to imply that MDs were just gladhanding the highrollers, just trying to understand what the job entails. In reading broadly about IB, it seems like as you move up the food chain you are expected to do less execution work and more client/relationship management and deal-sourcing. In M&A though, I'm getting the sense that it's all about execution, from top to bottom. Not saying that's good or bad, I just want to make sure I'm understanding things correctly.

"When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead."

I will be interning in an M&A group this summer. As a Summer Analyst, can I assume my responsibilities will be pretty much identical to an SA in an industry group?