Exit opps: BB activism defense
currently have a FT offer at a top BB doing M&A shareholder advisory. Found a couple old threads on this but nobody seemed to have a very definitive answer as to what typical exit opps look like from these types of groups. Is it really that much of a pigeonhole? Is it somewhat common to move into a normal M&A or coverage group (even if i have to downgrade banks)? I also have offers on the debt side of things at some low tier MM shops that are either shit on or rarely discussed here.
I want to eventually move into growth/VC and i figured getting closer to the M&A process at a respected bank would make sense and the work sounds interesting, but I just want to make sure I'm not fucking myself by giving up exits on the debt side (direct lending, PC, etc).
thanks monkes
also interested
Seen shareholder defense people at anl level lateral to coverage. Where then any exit is possible
Your best chance would be to move to a coverage/M&A group in the same bank after min. 6 months to 1yr. Shareholder advisory isn’t a pure revenue centre and a few BBs offer it out of their traditional M&A and/or coverage teams as a complimentary service. Think GS/JP/MS/Citi have dedicated teams housed under M&A but not sure. It’s very pitch heavy and you would be making slides day in day out and won’t get the same experience vs. someone in coverage/M&A.
Exit opps are limited and definitely won’t help you get to the buyside as you are not working on deals or models. But if this is your only offer and it’s from a top BB, might as well take it and see if you can network/transfer to M&A if exiting to PE or GE/VC is what you want to do a couple years down the line.
Thanks for the comment - yeah the offer is from one of the shops you named and sits within the broader M&A group. Have heard internal mobility is good and analysts have historically still gotten plenty of HH looks. Only other offer I have is at a no name commercial bank doing levfin but on tiny tiny deals, although I’ve also been turning down interviews at MMs like Lincoln/Baird (on their debt/private placements teams, not M&A). Figured the BB name would be better for lateral opps after a year or so (especially since I’m more interested in M&A than debt) - am I going about this right?
Agree with the sentiments above. You can lateral into a coverage or M&A group, but you’ll need to do a fair amount of leg work in your own time learning the industry / modeling as you won’t get those skills on a day to day basis. Would suggest taking that job and trying to lateral vs. a role at a much lesser firm.
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