Fast Replies Needed - Can the same investment bank advise on both the sell and buy side of the same deal?

Long story short have a client who wants to sell and another who wants to buy similar assets to what the other is selling. We're are advising both as separate deals but could they become one deal and we advise on both sides? Is that legal (conflict of interest) and allowed etc?

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Think it's more highly frowned upon / can open you up to lawsuits re: not acting as a fiduciary, but don't think this is breaking any laws. Some banks provide staple financing packages to the buyer while representing the seller, which is "advising both sides" in a way. But really not a best practice to be doing full M&A advisory on both sides.

Generally the way this works is you sign with one client, and then other client goes and finds a second banker. Pitches/intro meetings are one thing, but you should not be advising both buy and sell side on an actual deal.

 

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