Hi all, I just wanted to ask what a restructuring group in a middle market IB group (RJ/Blair/Stephens) is like compared to EB. Haven't found any info on that in the search.
Exits? WLB? Difference vs your typical EB group?
Mix of Debtor/Creditor mandates.
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Bump, interested
There are huge differences between different MM firms that have "restructuring" practices. Fastest way to tell, other than asking the people that work there, is to a) do a Debtwire search (or have a friend do it for you if you don't have access) and b) look at the background of senior people.
A lot of MM firms label what is essentially a capital raise for stressed businesses practice as "restructuring" or "special situations". Others have strong practices in true restructuring where their sector strengths lie (e.g. PJ Solomon and consumer). If you see an ex-Miller guy with several high profile deals listed on his profile leading the group, chances are the MM is in the latter bucket.
If they've been CROs or interim CFOs before, it's more likely the 2nd right?
If they’ve served as CRO or interim CFO, it’s more likely the group does restructuring/turnaround consulting work as an FA actually, not investment banking.
Have actually seen (via Linkedin) quite a few MM banks w/ RX groups (namely Oppenheimer, RJ, & Baird) hiring ex RX consultants/CROs more frequently. My thought process is bc RX industry is nuanced and there’s not a plethora of Sr. talent to pull from, having a seasoned RX professional that financially & operationally ran multiple companies through Ch. 11 process is a net benefit for deal flow, and there may be some overlap in responsibilities (especially on the lender-side advisory space, which are majority of mandates those MMs are competing for). Would say that ex-CROs are highly respected in the space, but a bank hiring them likely means its young team looking to grow by landing its first few headline deals. Feel free to throw in any thoughts on that, but that’s how I would view it.
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Short answer is it varies a ton. Of the firms you mentioned, RJ does not do a lot of true rx work, Stephens had recently acquired a TX boutique, Blackhill, which was fairly legit, however I believe that entire team has left Stephens already, and I don’t think Blair does any rx work at all (have never seen them on any meaningful mandates and fairly certain they don’t have a dedicated rx group).
Of the stronger MM groups that do a lot of true restructurings (vs. just private debt placements), the work experience would be relatively comparable to the major “EB” groups, at least from a technical standpoint. Exits, anecdotally, skew more to private credit/credit HF roles or A2A promotes vs. PE, but generally would think you’d have a lot of optionality if you want it given the rigor of the work.
Frankly though, the MM rx space is largely dominated by many of the same “EB” banks that do the larger deals. This is especially the case in times like the current when there isn’t much rx work to go around and those guys move downstream.
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