rank the prestige of these second tier banks
CIBC RBC HSBC Barclays Piper Jaffray Jefferies Bank of America Houlihan
CIBC RBC HSBC Barclays Piper Jaffray Jefferies Bank of America Houlihan
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Should probably not be in the same league as the other banks on your list. While it may not have the prestige of one of the "bulge brackets" it works on bigger deals than the other banks you have listed.
ok, how would you rank the rest then?
I'd put BofA and Barclays way ahead of the rest of them.
BofA Jefferies CIBC Houlihan HSBC Piper Jaffray RBC
I know nothing about Barclays so I won't comment on them, I haven't heard of them actively recruiting for analyst positions in the U.S.
I'd put Houlihan over CIBC because they've got a business model and do well with it, whereas I'm still not sure about what CIBC's business model is...
But otherwise agreed with Seanc. Barclays prestige obviously alot higher across the pond but if you're looking to do some pretty vanilla debt instruments they are probably right behind BofA or Jefferies.
is "boutique" and "middle market" basically interchangeable? or would it be insulting if you called a middle market bank a boutique? what about the other way around? what is the difference (if there are any) and where do you draw the line?
Boutique = Bank that only provides a single service, like solely corporate finance/M&A.
Middle-Market = Banks that do deals below a certain size (I comepletely forgot the size)
A bank can be a boutique without being middle-market (ex. Greenhill, Evercore)
Also a bank can be middle-market without being a boutique (Jefferies, Wachovia, Piper Jaffray)
so is WR Hambrecht a middle market firm? thanks for the clarifications.
RBC doesn't have much of a rep in the States, but in Canada its the best CDN bank.
Technically MM is TEV 100mm - 1.5bn but for practical purposes MM is usually 100-800mm.
as a firm BAS HLHZ Jefferies Piper Jaffray ..the rest
HLHZ has a tight restructuring group believe it or not.
Seems so crap - I had a look at their 'representative clients' for M&A - who are these companies?
Patel's 24hr Convenience Store Inc. acquisition of Hussain's Cash and Carry etc etc
You guys call that a 2nd tier bank and yet dismiss the likes of Lazard, Cazenove, Rothschild, and even Dresdner Kleinwort (which has advised on some 'real' transactions)
I don't get it - the NY-centric view is somewhat skewed.....
From the ghetto....
Dude, don't knock me. I sold Patel's store and oh boy did we make a killing!! It's all in the pricing structure.
One of the aforementioned banks on this "to rank list" sold a company for $40MM (which is way under the IB's target size) and made a $2.98MM fee.
Not bad a for $40MM transaction!
Wow, that's a huge fee. CS toronto did a $30MM deal and took $1MM.
do these guys all pay market?
HLHZ FRG shouldn't be second tier.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
what about Macquarie?
They don't compete with any of them. They are off on their own separate realm. Not quite buyout, not quite ibanking
HLHZ is pretty good, it's just their M&A is like the jokes above selling bakeries and 5 little caesars under the name Fine Food Service LLC.
However, the restructuring and ADG are very respectable. A guy from ADG went to the activist group at Shamy.
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