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Can offer some color, at an EB Industrials group and get staffed on A&D quite often so I cross paths with both groups a lot.
Both groups are very solid in the space. Lazard A&D is in LA and the culture there is great. My impression is that the office works pretty hard and is a bit grindy but everyone is extremely bright and good-natured. The office makes a killing in MM Sponsor sell-sides. A few recent deals they've done that come to my mind:
- Sell-side advisor for KKR's acquisition of Atlantic Aviation ($4.5B)
- Buy-side advisor for Lindsay Goldberg's acquisition of Summit Interconnect
- Sell-side advisor for StandardAero's acquisition of Signature Aviation's ERO ($230M)
- Sell-side advisor for Triumph's divestment of G650/700 to Gulfstream
- Sell-side advisor for SWK's acquisition of Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing ($1.5B)
- Sell-side advisor for Blue Point Cap's acquisition of Mattco Forge
- Sell-side advisor for Greenbriar's acquisition of PCX Aerosystems
- Sell-side advisor for Hanwha's acquisition of EDAC ($300M)
Jefferies A&D is actually ADG, as they cover Government services as well. They're split between CLT and NYC, and the culture there seems great. The group probably grinds hard as their deal flow is great, but everyone I've come across there has been extremely "fratty" and personable. They have a lot of dealflow, and they do quite a lot of SPAC deals. A few recent deals that come to mind:
- Buy-side advisor for KKR's acquisition of Atlantic Aviation ($4.5B)
- Sell-side advisor for KKR's acquisition of Ross Aviation
- Sell-side advisor for CACI's acquisition of SA Photonics ($275M)
- Sell-side advisor for Tailwind Two SPAC/ Terran Orbital ($1.6B)
- Buy-side advisor for Zanite SPAC/Embraer Aerospace Technology ($2.2B)
- Buy-side advisor for Booz Allen's acquisition of Liberty IT ($725M)
- Sell-side advisor for Genesis Park SPAC/Redwire ($440M)
- Sell-side advisor for Leidos's acquisition of Dynetics ($1.7B)
- Sell-side advisor for Aspirational Consumer SPAC/Wheels Up ($2.1B)
- Buy-side advisor for AeroVironment's acquisition of Arcturus UAV ($410M)
- Sell-side advisor for Blackstone's acquisition of Signature Aviation ($6B)
- Sell-side advisor for Raytheon's acquisition of Blue Canyon ($350M)
- Sell-side advisor for KBR's acquisition of Centauri ($827M)
Not even interested in ADG but +1 to this comment for providing actually helpful info while also providing actual info on dealflow rather than just leaving it at "strong" or "weak" like most other comments.
Wish all WSO threads could be this in-depth/informative. +1 SB, don't even care about the sector
Where do you find this information? I'd like to update it 2 years later (midyear 2024)
My firm does a lot in the ADG space, with an emphasis on Gov Services, so I've interacted with the Jefferies team quite often. Their deal flow, as mentioned above, is very strong and they have a healthy mix of sponsor and strategic deals. The team definitely has long hours, but they're very tight-knit and could be described as "fratty". Even though a lot of the bankers are ex-NY bankers who moved down to CLT for lifestyle reasons, the group definitely has more of the relaxed Southern SEC-esque vibe to them than most other banking cultures. I believe the current senior group at ADG have stuck together for a long time (since the days of Wachovia), so that's a testament to the tight-knit culture there.
Based on my interactions with the team over there, Jeff and Greg seem like phenomenal guys, so definitely would not be surprised if they built a great culture in the office from the top down.
Can anyone speak to how HL and Baird's ADG teams compare?
HL and Baird are both great in the space, although they definitely focus more on the MM market. HL's ADG team is based in Nova. They lost some heavy hitters a few years ago (who actually went to Baird), but reloaded by buying Bluestone, an ADG boutique. We don't interact with them a lot as they operate in the MM the vast majority of the time, but I've heard the seniors in the office are very bright while the juniors are grinded to the bone. They do a lot of deals (as with the rest of HL), but their deals are mostly in the LMM-MM space. A lot of MM sponsor sell-sides. Some recent deals that I can think of:
- Sell-side advisor for ManTech's acquisition of Gryphon Technologies ($350M)
- Sell-side advisor for Macquarie's acquisition of Procentrix
- Buy-side advisor for CI Capital's acquisition of Cadmus
- Sell-side advisor for ACP's acquisition of Stellant
- Sell-side advisor for ACP's acquisition of MCR
- Sell-side advisor for Shield AI's acquisition of Martin UAV
Baird's team is Defense & Gov, as I believe Industrials handles Aviation. They've definitely improved a lot since they poached a couple rainmakers from HL's ADG team. The office is pretty busy, but the people seem very nice. Their deal flow is also solid, a lot of Gov Services. Some recent deals:
- Sell-side advisor for GovernmentCIO's acquisition of Salient CRGT
- Buy-side advisor for Parsons's acquisition of BlackHorse Solutions ($203M)
- Sell-side advisor for SAIC's acquisition of Halfaker & Associates ($250M)
- Sell-side advisor for Accenture's acquisition of Novetta
- Buy-side advisor for Leidos's acquisition of Dynetics ($1.7B)
- Sell-side advisor for Booz Allen's acquisition of Liberty IT ($725M)
Thanks for the info!
Damn always knew Baird had a solid Defense & Gov team but never knew that Baird's deal flow in gov IT & services was this good.
I thought Baird was the buy side advisor in the BlackHorse sale to Parsons and RJ was sell side.This might be a better question for someone on the PE or CorpDev side, but what're your experiences and thoughts on the ADG DD and transaction advisory firms like Wolf Den Associates, Avascent, or Renaissance? Or CSP?
Besides Laz/Jef/HL/Baird, are there any other banks that have separate ADG offices that recruit separate from the generalist/Industrials pools?
Besides some ADG boutiques like KippsDeSanto, I believe William Blair also has an ADG office in Charlotte. Not sure if they recruit SAs directly into the ADG group or if CLT SAs are generalist, though.
Does Baird not recruit directly into the ADG group? I feel like any of these offices that are basically on an island geographically in NOVA/Charlotte/LA would have to recruit directly.
KippsDeSanto hires SAs
Can anyone speak on the William Blair ADG team?
They're located in Charlotte, and are a pretty small team. I believe the seniors are all poached from BlackArch. Don't know anybody there, but I've heard anecdotally that the group head is a nice guy. Deal flow is definitely weaker than the leading MM ADG groups, HL and Baird, but the Blair group is also smaller. Also do a fair number of LMM-MM sponsor sell-sides. Some deals:
- Sell-side advisor for JF Lehman's acquisition of CTS Engines
- Buy-side advisors for Avon Rubber's acquisition of Team Wendy ($130M)
- Sell-side advisor for MDP Covant's acquisition of Aevex Aerospace
- Sell-side advisor for Ross aviation's acquisition of Retrix
They also hired Curtis Bram who was the founder of BlackArch so the buy-in from him is pretty key.
They started with like 5 people in 2017. I think it’s now up to 50+, but that’s not just ADG. They now have Healthcare, Tech and T&L MDs in Charlotte. Heard second hand that it will be their second biggest office soon, so sounds like they are doing well.
God damn bro keeps churning out these deals lmao
It's honestly a lot more informative than the usual threads of "X bank is very strong/weak in the space". Wish most other threads on WSO were nearly this comprehensive.
Totally agree. Was honestly surprised at how informative this thread has been. Definitely refreshing
I know that CVP and PWP don't have dedicated ADG groups and ADG is verticalized into their Industrials groups, but does anyone know how they are in the space?
Both are solid but aren't the best in the space. CVP has Honeywell and GE, two conglomerates that have ADG operations, as clients, so they get those deals, but I can't think of too many deals they've done in the space besides those clients' deals.
I think PWP is stronger in the ADG space, but still not as strong as Jefferies or Lazard, and obviously nowhere close to their number of deals. A few recent deals (perhaps the only recent ADG deals they've done) that come to my mind:
- Sell-side advisor for NextGen Acquisition SPAC/Virgin Orbit ($3B)
- Sell-side advisor for Northrop Grumman's divestiture of its IT business to Veritas ($3.4B)
Can anyone provide thoughts on A&D at BBs or other firms like Macquarie or WF? Or is the space mostly dominated by EB and MM firms
GS/MS/Citi are very strong from a BB point of view, and Evercore is another strong EB. In the past couple years, MS did Raytheon/UTC ($90B), Meggit/Parker-Hannifan ($10B), Cobham/Advent ($5B), Rocket Lab/Vector Acquisition ($4B), and Ultra Electronics/Advent ($3.5B), used to name a few. MS and Raytheon have a pretty close relationship and they also advise Raytheon on their smaller acquisitions quite often. GS did Raytheon/UTC, Cobham/Advent, and Aerojet Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin ($3.8B), and Cobham Mission Systems/Eaton Corp, off the top of my head. Evercore also did Raytheon/UTc, Aerojet Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin, L3 Harris/Leidos, Arcutrus UAV/Aerovironment. Citi was the exclusive sell-side advisor for Raytheon/UTC (RBC only did the fairness opinion), and also advised on Meggit/Parker-Hannifan, Bombardier/Alstom ($6B), Cobham/Advent, and Aerojet Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin.
Macquarie is pretty strong in ADG, but mainly because of the firm's own infra fund, which Macquarie also advises for (some recent deals include selling the fund's Atlantic Aviation to KKR and selling Dovel to Veritas). The ADG head at Macquarie actually used to be co-head of ADG at Jefferies and has a pretty strong relationship with Veritas from those days so they advise Veritas quite a bit as well (one deal that comes to mind was advising Veritas on their sale of Alion Science to Huntington Ingalls). Other recent deals include AM General/KPS.
DATS (Defense, Aerospace, and Tech Services) used to be one of WF's strongest verticals until the rainmakers left for Jefferies (The current Jefferies ADG seniors are ex-Wells).
Overall, a number of BBs are relatively active in the large-cap space because of financing relationships, with GS/MS/Citi leading the pack. You see a lot of them on the same headliner deals, as for those deals, the buy-side tends to have a lot of advisors (because of financing).
Among the non-BBs, Evercore is probably the most active in the large-cap space, with Lazard also making appearances as they have a few large-cap clients (Thales, Airbus). In the mid-cap and UMM space, Jefferies, Lazard, and Evercore are all very strong.
RIP the Aerojet Rocketdyne deal.
Any insight on what a first rounder phone interview will look like with a LAZ VP?
Blend of technical/behavioral and make sure to have acute industry knowledge if you're applying for a sector specific position. Had a first round with an associate in a different coverage group than A&D and he grilled my ass on the industry he covered (for a satellite office).
Any insight on how recruiting works for the LAZ and JEF A&D offices?
Lazard LA does office-specific recruiting, and Jefferies ADG does group-specific recruiting.
are juniors in Lazard LA generalists then, since LA also has media & gaming?
Just wanted to add that both offices have been carrying their momentum into 2022. I know the people in Lazard LA are super busy with dealflows and Jefferies ADG has been on absolute fire - three deals announced in January alone.
How does Lazard losing LA losing their core A&D MD affect the group?
Any more insights on the Jefferies ADG office? I understand they're starting recruiting in a couple of months.
Pretty strong office and great culture. The core group of seniors has stuck around forever since the days of Wachovia, so culture is really tight.
Industrials banker here who works with both groups so can add a bit more insight. Lazard is A&D, and do a lot of MM sponsor sell-sides. They just lost one of their rainmakers, so it'll be interesting where they go from here. Jefferies is ADG, with commercial aviation in NY and the rest of ADG in Charlotte. They do a much larger variety of deals (balanced mix of sponsor/strategic and sell-side vs buy-side deals).
Can anyone speak a bit about the recruiting process for Jefferies ADG? I know they're planning to do interviews in the coming weeks.
in-person first rounds at their target schools, and then SDs at their office.
Last year they had two rounds before SDs, and SDs had a ridiculous number of interviews.
Fwiw Lazard's ADG group has definitely not been the same since they lost one of their main MDs, from what I've heard from friends over there. Deal flow pipeline has noticeably declined, and likely will remain a bit depressed until they can reload with another MD to bolster the current team.
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