Why is IB called sell-side?

So obviously, there is some dichotomy on Wall Street where IB is called sell-side and PE/VC is called buy-side. What is the rationale behind this? Bankers perform buy-side advisory services too, so I'm curious to see how the sell-side tag for IB came about. Is it because 80% of work done in M&A is sell-side work?

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Rule 1: Never ask a question you can google yourself within 10 seconds

Don´t say this in a banking interview: Which superhero would you be and why? I want to be like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor - me.
 

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