What do bookrunners on the right actually do?

I see on a lot of ECM/DCM/LevFin transactions in the US that there are several "joint bookrunners" or joint lead bookrunners" or "joint bookrunning managers" or whatever. What's the difference in terms of work being done by the leftmost bookrunner compared to the rest of the bookrunners on the right? Is it essentially the same or is the leftmost bank typically doing most of the actual book building and deal structuring?

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There’s a big difference between being a passive right bookrunner and an active one. The left does the majority of the structuring, but the right will be a sounding board for the company. If you are active your sales force will participate in teach-ins and actively market the transaction to investors, and you will even provide updates to th3 client in some circumstances. If you are passive you likely will only participate in due diligence and collect a fee for the coverage (both banking and capital market) that you provide the client.

 

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