London Infrastructure IBD
Hey all -
Any insight on best PUI / Infra M&A teams in London? No oil and gas but rather utilities / reg assets / power gen and transport
Thanks in advance
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Other than your top BBs, Macquarie and Evercore come to mind. Barclays is also a strong player here.
Farm owner thoughts?
Farm owner thoughts?
Think that DC has a solid infra team in LDN. From deal flow seems to lean toward RX though but could just be the recent market.
2nd this
They are decent but can't compare them with larger banks in the Infra space. GS, MS, Barclays, UBS, Nomura, Macquarie all strong and different league to DC.
Think this is a bit of a generalisation - agreed on GS (not really for infra but more Natres) and MS (good in transport) macquarie (mainly power / utilities) and Barclays (mainly power / utilities).
UBS and greencoat are indeed in the same league as DC, Roths, cantor, evercore etc
.
RX is a separate team. Deal flow is M&A and debt advisory mainly on the infra side rather than power generation / transmission
.
Copying from another thread asking the exact same question just a few months ago:There is some level of overlap between the two but best Infra players in London would be MS, BofA, Macquarie, (Citi?), Roths, Evercore and UBS. For NatRes GS, Barclays, Macquarie, Lazard, MS (O&G).
Personally, would replace BofA with RBC
Lazard is not a top team whatsoever in infra.
What makes you say that?
For Digital Infra, they have one of the best bankers in Europe
Citi for P&U
Anyone suggesting the bulge bracket firms for this sector has no idea what they are talking about.
Citi is dead since their head left to Antin
UBS and MS do like one deal a year
What banks would you say are the best in 2024?
To add to my point the reason BBs have essentially given up on infrastructure IBD and ceded it to the boutiques is precisely because it’s a terrible business. It’s hard work, technically and low margin and attracts lower calibre talent to the rest of finance on the sellside and buyside. Literally the special olympics of banking and private equity
Suggesting JPM DI attracts low calibre talent is ridiculous
JPM’s infra business is an afterthought. They have one M&A and one financing banker who focuses on it. Both good bankers, and def not low calibre, but the business has no scale or relevance and I’m guessing both those guys are in the bottom quartile of MD comp.
JPM is all about the country teams and one or two industry groups. That’s where you get paid.
Can you please elaborate on this? Infra and P&U are one of the most technical industries and some transactions, on the structured debt & equity tend to fairly complex. Special Olympics is quite an overstatement and sounds very petty
Yep, and that’s precisely why it sucks balls
Any monkey can with enough training become technically proficient at modeling
There’s no alpha in power / utes / infra relative to other sectors.
ILiterally in Europe power / utes/ infra attracts the most technically proficient least commercially capable people around.
A lot of truth to this sadly, and anyone who's done infra advisory knows firsthand. Look no further than what happened to MS's project finance team. However, there's definitely some smart and capable people within the space, so I don't fully agree that it attracts low caliber talent.
I truly agree with you... Infra transaction is unnecessarily detailed (unless it's operating asset with everything fixed)
However infra is also a downside resilience business + lighter hours
I would tend to think it attracts risk-averse smart people (in your terms, not necessarily commercial enough) and a lot of harddo (amazing in technical but not able to translate their thinking into paper)
Of course there are smart and capable people - more billionaires recently from infrastructure fund creation than private equity and plenty of folks who’ve made high eight and nine figures. It’s still a brilliant asset class, but the best returns are probably passed.
My point is that in Europe, the sector is so mature and saturated that is all about eking the nth basis point out of a low return asset so it’s very technical but zero alpha. That doesn’t sound like an exciting space for someone to start their career. Go where the growth and differentiation is,
What would you say are currently the top firms who have the strongest P&U/ Infra teams at the moment in London and why?
Thanks for your insights! May I ask which asset class would you prefer in EU? Much appreciate!
Generally speaking, infrastructure is a game for project finance banks. The Japanese and French are typically very strong, but when it comes to bigger transactions, you will also see a JPM or Morgan Stanley involved. Lazard and DC are quite strong, just to name a few non-balance sheet institutions. Depends heavily on region - take a look at IJGlobal League Tables (doesn't matter if it's two/three years old, things are not too dynamic in the sector) and you'll quickly get a feel for the “who's who” in the sector.
Del
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