Value of a M&A internship in industry?

Hi all,

I am posting this thread because I was wondering what do you guys think about doing a M&A internship in industry to break into IB.

I mean: if combined with relevant experience, would doing such an internship from an industry point of view be relevant to recruiters? How would they see it? Would it be useful for someone looking to break into Investment Banking?

The internship in question would be in a leading firm, but in a very niche sector. Obviously, the perspective would focus more on synergies for the actual company, so I was thinking it could be a valuable experience.

Thank you for giving your opinion. Cheers.

21 Comments
 
Best Response

Are you talking about Corporate Development? If that is what you mean by "M&A internship in industry", then yes, it is enormously helpful. Generally your corpdev team will know quite a few bankers at firms which pitch for business/have previously been engaged to the company for various mandates. And the work you do is highly relevant to IB. It also helps that a lot of the corpdev team members are ex-IB. For me, when I told them I was recruiting for IB, they took away my mouse while using excel etc and generally offered really great advice and mentorship. These teams are generally relatively small compared to other corporate functions within a company so there is a lot of camaraderie between everyone . Are you still in college though? I'm writing this under the assumptions you're still an undergrad and still yet to recruit for your junior year internship.

 

the firm that im going to be at is Gottesman Company...its actually listed as a regional boutique on this site, but at the interview the lady told me they weren't an investment bank, they were more of a M&A firm.

 

I think you are a bit confused.

Edit: Or maybe I am, but M&A is banking. If you are at a regional boutique, ok, it isn't a bulge bracket, but it should still give you a decent experience and if you do well and learn a lot you should be able to move to a better firm for a full time slot.

 

A lot of those "m&a firms" are really business brokers...essentially head hunters. Instead of finding talented people, however, they find companies for buyers or buyers for companies. At the analyst level, there will usually be zero quantitative analysis as it is mostly finding companies that meet simple criteria. Expect to make a lot of calls to small businesses, and to be treated as a telemarketer. It’s a good way to get your foot in the door, but it is not banking and not very interesting.

 

^^^im in the summer of my sophomore year....should i do it? and also, what else should i do this summer? (learn financial modeling, derivatives?) what else could set me apart from the crowd?...i go to a non target and am trying to break into ibanking

 

It's a solid sophomore summer internship, but the cold calls can be taxing. To get a banking internship you do not need to study high finance. Read the vault guide and do a search for interview questions on this board. Know how to value a company (public comps, acquisition comps, DCF), know how to track changes through the financial statements (e.g. increasing depreciation), know how to link the financial statements, and know the story behind your favorite stock. Also, since you're at a non target you should (of course) network with alumni/family in banking/finance.

Many things can set you apart from the crowd, but nothing you can do in one summer. If you have a high gpa, strong ecs, and network with alumni you will be set apart.

 

Any type of financial experience before your junior internship will aid you in landing an ibanking internship/FT job. Granted, this is more so the case at target schools, where many students without freshman/sophomore asset management experience find themselves in a difficult position come junior spring.

I would strongly suggest that you consider transferring to an ivy or NYU stern. Your chances of getting an ibanking job are greatly increased, even at a 2nd tier school such as NYU.

 

^^^i go to baruch college and will be a junior next semester, my gpa is overall 3.4, im hoping to get a very high major gpa which will boost my gpa up.....i dont think I could get into NYU with a not so impressive gpa

 

Unfortunately, your 3.4 from Baruch has immediately decimated your chances of banking. Crazier things have happened, but just remember you should have alternative options so you aren't stuck junior summer with no internship at all.

Realize that you really only have the Fall semester to bring your GPA up, and one semester with a 4.0 may not even get you near a 3.5.

 

i figured it out...if i get like a 3.8-4.0 the rest of the way, which is do-able, i got a 3.83 last semester....i could graduate with a 3.5-3.6 gpa and a major gpa of about 3.8-4.0 ....even as a senior with those grades, would ibanking be possible? thanks

 

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