How would you guys compare FT positions at Lazard and Blackstone M&A in terms of reputation/prestige, PE exit ops, and quality of deal experience? The Lazard offer is generalist, so the restructuring group is a possibility. Wasserstein's sad absence could also be something to think about...
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I'd really appreciate any thoughts you guys might have. Thanks for the help.
Digital 2015 plan - apparently they are moving into digital area as we all know yellow pages is dead. IMO they will have to move into the internet stock group if they wanna survive. 65% of rev now is coming from Internet and the only other main business unit is the printed directories business, which is essentially dying.
Would be interesting to see their 2015.
And BX RR over LAZ M&A anyday. Because you do M&A at BX too - they don't separate the team in London.
In terms of prestige and exit ops, both of these firms are top-notch from the analyst perspective. It really should come down to your feelings towards the people you met at both places and the culture in your situation.
I would add however, that if you're still completely indifferent between the two, the Lazard offer being for both M&A and restructuring is attractive because of that. Lazard is a top restructuring shop, and being able to work on both M&A and restructuring mandates can only add to your marketability to the buyside.
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Both are top shops. Personally, I prefer BX. You're not really going to go wrong here.
Last I heard Lazard split up the analysts into M&A and Restructuring - do you really get to work on both if you go there?
Regardless of which firm you go to, you will get exposure to both restructuring and M&A. As bkm125 said, you will be placed into either M&A or restructuring and the majority of your work will be tied to the group; however, you will also get to see the other side on a number of projects.
I was told from Lazard that you will be placed into an industry group after training. At BX M&A, you will be an industry generalist for your two years, which goes a long way in my books. I've been told that you should stay a generalist as long as possible...it only makes yourself more marketable. Aside from a Energy sub-section of BX M&A, all analysts are generalists. Furthermore, they have been working extensively with the restr/reorg group on distressed M&A lately.
could be something to consider. I wish I had heard something from someone high up on the street who would have a real insight into where the firm may be headed.
Lazard RX/Blackstone RX/Blackstone M&A (Originally Posted: 10/19/2012)
Hey everyone,
Have offers/significant interest with the above firms (all NYC). What are some of the pros/ cons of each and how do they do in regards to MBA applications as well as PE or hedge fund placement?
well do you have an offer or significant interest? They are not really interchangeable.
How did I know something like this would be the first post? Who cares whether he has the offers yet or not? It's still helpful to know how they rank so he knows which ones to pursue more aggressively.
OP, all of those groups are fantastic. From speaking to alumni/former summer analysts with first-hand experience at Laz, Lazard Restructuring is absolute murder in terms of hours. Brutal group but great exits apparently.
Blackstone R&R is supposedly better than Blackstone M&A in terms of exits but they're both good. Have no idea what the hours/culture are like though or how they compare to Lazard.
Restructuring is a good field if you want to get into distressed debt investing too.
I think BX restructuring by far is the best in terms of both hours and exit ops.
Isn't Blackstone M&A amazing as well? Those guys have great hours as well, maybe weaker mega-deal flow compared to restructuring, but feels like everyone out of there goes to a top PE or HF
yeah BX M&A would be a second, but BX restructuring historically has just amazing placement and way better hours than M&A from what I've heard.
How does this compare with other boutiques and BBs like goldman, etc?
Somehow i'm finding trouble believing that you have offers from any of these groups if you have to ask a question like this...
In any case, BX M&A is amazing and places well into HF/PE do some research on Linkedin and look at BX M&A alumni
So in general, for IBanking, would you take a Blackstone offer over Lazard (and other boutiques/BBs) if I want to get into PE/HF and M7?
Yes
BX M&A/R&R are equally strong, but you will come out with dramatically different skill sets. You should ask yourself whether you definitely want to do restructuring before making any commitment one way or the other.
Placement should be a secondary consideration because you will get the same interview opportunities from either group.
Blackstone has announced 21 deals globally this CY worth ~USD13.5b. That ranks them 43rd.
Yeah this Blackstone hype is kind of strange. They get outperformed by literally every better boutique, so why is their PE placement (or at least people on WSO claim it to be) so good?
^Because when you talk to people who have gone through buyside recruiting you'll recognize that dealflow doesn't matter. Prestige matters, and Blackstone has tons of it. It's also tremendously helpful that almost all the analysts in M&A and R&R are top notch going into the program...
The placement stats for M&A and R&R have been posted on this website before. I've heard MS M&A and GS TMT placement stats as well, and BX's are equally good.
When you kidders look at your proxy for "dealflow" (ie, $value of completed deals) you seem to forget size. An analyst in a team of 20 bankers coming 20th on the tables is going have a better experience that an analyst in a team of 100 coming 10th. Moreover, you treat all bankers as the same, that there is no differential in quality of advice, and the exposure an analyst will have to that.
On slide 37, there is a marketshare comparison of the restructuring practices (but focuses only on the top 25 largest deals). Obviously, it doesn't provide the full picture here, but gives you a more concrete idea (though biased toward Lazard of course!).
http://www.lazard.com/PDF/2Q12%20Investor%20Information%20FINAL.pdf
If you start to consider deals outside of the top 25 largest, Blackstone will increase its market share compared to Lazard. The two RX practices are regarded as 1 and 1A in the industry. Blackstone M&A is less attractive to me than the two RX positions (as someone else mentioned, dealflow at BX M&A is relatively limited.. and even though they have prestige, if you do not work on many deals, you do not develop the same degree of skill as you would at the two RX practices).
Also, a comparison of 1Q2012 dealflow .. Blackstone was #5 in announced, but #1 in completed, while Lazard was #1 announced, but #4 in completed. These rankings will change from year to year, but Laz and BX will almost certainly be at the top in the foreseeable future.
http://dmi.thomsonreuters.com/Content/Files/1Q12_Restructuring_Advisory…
Dude...everyone already knows LAZ and BX have the best restructuring groups, league tables prove nothing.
To answer the original question, BX restructuring is above both of the other two options, straight up.
So when you say RX and M&A give you very different skill sets but similar interviews at either of these places, is it safe to assume that RX would be slightly more favored by hedge funds (ie distressed debt) while the M&A skillet is more applicable to PE?
I've talked to a couple of people at distressed debt/special situations type of funds, the two guys I talked to came from LevFin and R&R. So yes, a natural transition from those types of product groups would be to that type of fund, not to say you are precluded from other opportunities after your analyst stint.
Google: Blackstone M&A/Group + Private Equity/Investment Management (for hedge fund placements) + Linkedin.
Since no one seems to have read my post, check out this thread for the list of BX M&A and R&R exit opps: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/Blackstone-rxma
As you can see, both groups place exceptionally well.
yeah, you got lost in the noise, but you're absolutely correct.
1, by far=bx r&r. NO, YOU WILL NOT BE STUCK IN RESTRUCTURING ROLES, as a poster above said. Plain wrong. Look at exit opps for further evidence of this. 2 (tied) <abbr title="Blackstone">BX M&A and LAZ R&R. Think R&R wins on prestige/respect, but only marginally so. Better dealflow. More sought after/unique skillset. On the downside, you get killed hour-wise and culture is awful. BX M&A you work less, get paid more, and have pretty much the same exit opps.
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