Shortlisting Banking Professional for a Potential M&A Deal

Selling a firm in the financial markets is difficult, and more difficult, is knowing the correct valuation of your company. Investment bankers adept at offering advices on M&A, comes to your rescue in this regard. But, how would you know, which investment bank to approach to, while you have made you mind for the sale? The answer lies in your selection process of hiring M&A advisors.

Choosing the right team of banking advisors can be the difference between receiving the monetary valuation of the firm that it deserves, and selling at discount. More often than not, a selling company’s first team member in the said process is an M&A advisor from an investment bank. So, it’s better to choose an experienced banking professional who is stacked with a number of investment banking certifications. Besides, certified advisors are considered better-prepared for getting you the most lucrative ‘sale’ deals in the financial markets as they happen to be more competent than many of their counterparts. 

He will be the one responsible to carry out the entire process of ‘sale’ for the company, on your behalf. He will be acting as ‘quarterback’, and will assist coordinating the activities of the other members in the transaction team. Among all the members in the transaction-handling team, you will be spending the maximum of your time with the investment banking professional.

Shortlisting an Apt M&A Advisor, or Investment Banker 

A number of factors has to be considered before finalizing an M&A advisor for the sale of your company. Among the much vital of them would be – number of years of experience in the related field, the track record, support team, personal repo, and industry knowledge.

However, the most crucial factor that can make all the difference between a good and an average deal in the investment banking industry, could be the number of years of ‘experience’ your M&A advisor holds under his belt.

Let’s discuss a few of them in brief:

Experience

Investment banks are staffed with professionals having a considerable transactional experience. It’s the senior M&A advisors that can get you the deal of your dreams, when you have decided to sell your company. These experienced advisors have had helped hundreds of other clients in selling their firms at a deserving price in their past career, and thereby, are stacked with a credible experience in the said domain. 

Track Record of the Investment Bank

Another critical area to be contemplated upon while selecting a banking firm is the ‘track record’. Investment banks across the world have a listing of their previously-made transactions that you can analyze to find out the sizes and types of deals being handled by them in the past. 

Knowledge of the Domain

Rich knowledge of the domain you operate into, is considered critical in any industry you would have heard of. One can predict the trustworthiness of a bank based on its recent success, or failure, or by digging deep into its operational experience, and balance sheets. Bankers with a good transactional experience would probably prove to be a good fit to satisfy your deal expectations (monetary). Domain knowledge allows a banker to find the best possible deal for you in the market, as he will know and understand the potential buyers more than anyone else. 

Choosing the Right Personality Fit

As a ‘sale deal’ before getting finalized, can take up to a duration of six months or more, you will be required to interact with your M&A advisor, almost daily. And hence, it becomes of paramount importance that you share a good professional bond with him, or the personality vibes match between the two of you.