Saw few posts on IB firms in Chicago, but thought to ask if anyone has a list of the smaller firms in the lower-to-MM space. I could only find around 15 but there has got to be much more than that. Any names would be appreciated!
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Stifel, Lincoln, DA Davidson, and Mesirow come to mind
Lincoln is not LMM
They are... I'm at a well known, reputable MM bank. The only time we run into Lincoln or see Lincoln is when we are pitching on a tiny shit asset for relationship building purposes lol
Congrats on Lincoln!
Lincoln
Lincoln is MM?
Waller Helms, although they just got bought by HL
Peakstone, Dresner Partners, Stout, CMD Global, Livingstone, are a few i've come across that are truly in the LMM range (like sub 50M). Lincoln and Stifel play a little higher usually.
Lincoln, DA Davidson, Stifel
By Tier Below:
Tiered for Chicago MM - LMM excludes NB (strictly my opinion)
T1
HL (simply amazing, just acquired Waller helms)
Solomon Partners
William Blair (Especially bad bonuses last year, but great bank from what I’ve heard)
Baird (have heard pretty sweaty but great MW bank)
Lincoln (hear different things every other day)
Honorable Mention: XMS Capital Partners (sneaky boutique that does $500m+ transactions)
T2
BGL
Cain Brothers / Keybank (small Chicago presence)
D.A Davidson (small Chicago presence)
Mesirow (have heard about some internal trouble lately, they’re trying to grow out new business lines in uncharted waters since the paper and plastics business is slower)
Stout (seems like some bad deal flow)
Honorable Mention: *shock Fifth Third (seems like they’re rapidly expanding their M&A practice across the Midwest)
T3
PMCF (subdivision of Plante Moran, pretty sure they’re also big in plastics but have a few rainmaker MDs)
Ziegler (have heard so many weird things)
Kroll (had some decent deal flow for a bit, not sure now)
B.Riley
Honorable Mention: Performance Trust (focus on depositories and banks, very successful)
T4 There are many but here’s a few
Colonnade (insurance, auto dealerships, financial services)
City Capital Advisors
First Analysis
Caber Hill Advisors
Physician Growth Partners (physician services)
Metronome Partners
Hope this helps in some way or another, don’t take any of the ranking to heart.
Can second Ziegler being weird. One of the most offputting networking calls I’ve had, guys starting grilling me on technicals after I asked about their time in college. Apparently they pay well ? Odd culture
Can second the pay being strong. Heard culture is great
Can confirm Mesirow is struggling
Why?
What’s the deal with XMS these days? They’ve only done a couple of M&A deals the past few years, despite a huge number of MDs. Doesn’t seem like they are working very hard or perhaps they are nearly dead?
Bump
Where does Truist rank here
Anyone got any insight into what a full time recruiting cycle might look like at Livingstone this year?
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