M&A: Mergers & Acquisitions

What are mergers & acquisitions? 

The Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) department of a bank advises buyers and sellers on the sales, acquisitions and mergers of companies. It also assists issuers or investors in fundraising operations and can intervene in specific operations or situations such as the implementation of a defense strategy against activist shareholders (in the case of a listed company) or the setting up of a joint venture. Its clients are mainly companies, financial institutions, funds or public entities. Occasionally, the client can also be an individual, a corporate shareholder or an investor.

On behalf of its clients, the M&A department identifies and analyzes potential acquisition targets, structures the transactions, values the companies, prepares the necessary documentation for the marketing of the transactions (such as the sale of a company or the raising of funds). In the case of a takeover bid, the bank contacts and negotiates with counterparties to the deal, including buyers/investors, etc.

Within the bank, the M&A banker works closely with the coverage team (advisory bankers and account managers), which manages client relationships. Occasionally, M&A also works with the Equity Capital Markets (ECM) department and Leveraged finance (for LBO financing) and Acquisition finance (for structured financing of corporate acquisitions).