2018 best RX shops on the street?
Curious about best perceived restructuring shops on the Street. Maybe in terms of deal flow, current momentum, exit ops, pay. Any perceptions are appreciated.
PJT - probably the top shop on the street
Lazard / Evercore / HL - All very good and have solid deal flow and exits. Heard really good things about work life balance at HL
Millstein - heard really good things (comp was apparently top notch)/was up and coming but idk how the gugg acquisition changes things
As mentioned. Best analysts roles for Rx with top pay, prestige, and exits are PJT and EVR. Most well-known analyst programs that specialize in Rx are PJT/EVR/HL. HL also very good. Lazard's group is also great but the analyst role is M&A/Rx. Exits from all these groups are fantastic.
Clearly you work for EVR. No one lumps their rx practice with other top rx practices. Also, recently analyst placement has not been too great. Their bread and butter is m&a
Jeez.. pretty harsh response. Their Rx analyst placement has been fantastic so not really sure what you are talking about. Also, the comment about Lazard is inaccurate as they also have placed very well in recent years.
Doesn't get as much love on this site because the analyst program isn't dedicated restructuring, which makes sense given the audience of WSO, but Moelis has killed restructuring in 2018. I'm positive they're first place in the bankruptcy league table by value, and maybe second by the number of engagements.
All the above listed are great shops. Some like Lazard are more debtor focussed vs HL which does more creditor work. As a rule of thumb, every firm does both, but different firms focus their practices differently. Debtor engagements tend to pay higher fees but in a restructuring, there's one debtor and often many creditors, so obviously fewer opportunities for debtor-side work.
The NYC bankruptcy world is very small. You see the same bankers and lawyers over and over again.
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Look at the Thomson Reuters league tables (ignore non-investment banks).
Q3 18: https://ibb.co/pQX6Zyn https://ibb.co/d7TwP4x
FY 17: https://ibb.co/qkmFSpc https://ibb.co/7KdDYvp
They don't do the same work as investment banks from a restructuring perspective. The consulting firms you see on the list typically focus on operational restructuring whereas the banks focus on financial restructuring. As a company, it is very common to hire both an operational advisor (an Alix/A&M/FTI/Zolfo) and a financial advisor (Laz/Moelis/HL/PJT).
Good stuff. Would agree with the above in terms of exit opps for best analyst classes (PJT/EVR/HL) but interesting to see recent deals being done at diff firms. Jefferies is another good shop that rarely gets mentioned
HL RX kills it. Moelis kills it. EVR kills it. PJT/LAZ kill it. They all place very well. Tbh any rx shop will kill it over the next few years as maturities need to be extended and overlevered sponsor backed companies file. Can't imagine a better group to be in given the current environment.
I would disagree with your last given the following: 1.) Given the rising rate environment and brexit warnings since 2016, a lot of the refinancings and maturity extensions have already been executed in 2017 / 2018 2.) The vast majority (i'm talking like 85%+) of leveraged loans have been issued as covenant-lite or some sort of "covenant-loose" with a ridiculous headroom (think of like 40%+ assuming full RCF is drawn) so I would expect covenant breaches will be a lot lesser than you normally expect, even assuming we've reached the peak of the credit cycle and things head south starting next year
I do agree with your RX bank list - usually some combination of PJT / LAZ / HLHZ / EVR / Moelis when it comes to straight up dealflow. On a side note, some of the smartest kids I've ever met worked at PJT RX and Ducera RX, and they both absolutely loved their experiences for what it's worth.
What has EVR done that gets them a good reputation? I remember they got TXU but I thought perception was they didnt do the best job there (personally no opinion)
In terms of an overall practice I dont think they rank with Laz/HL/PJT but I guess the analyst program is different? Where have analysts landed from EVR Rx?
EFH was a big deal as mentioned above but I think more importantly their practice has been growing very fast/well within the firm with the small class of analysts placing extremely well at many of the top distressed shops. At my school (H/W/P), I'd rank people's choices as 1. PJT 2. EVR. 3. HL/LAZ/MOELIS but we had kids turn down PJT for Moelis, turn down EVR for Lazard etc. so I think it comes down to personal preference. I do know from friends that the analyst comp at PJT and EVR was also very high.