Consulting firms with more M&A / capital market related project exposure?

Question

Hi forum, I'm wondering if I am interested to work on projects related to M&A/ capital market, such as corporate finance / investment decision / inorganic growth, fund strategy, CDD / VDD, PMI, M&A target scanning, etc, which firms should I target?

Definitely MBB is on the list, but I'm trying to be more practical and come up with more companies on the list. In my experience, some firms do work on CDD / VDD projects, but have very limited exposure to other projects types I've mentioned.

Would big four's deal strategy practice be worth considering under this context? Thank you!

Answer 1

Hello,

Big 4's deal strategy practice is definitely work considering! I would also take a look at Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, Deloitte, E&Y, LEK.

Answer 2

Hi!

Great to see you have a clear idea of what you want to do.

Few people have that.

I can't give you an exact list because the focus of these firms differ from geography to geography. So they might be doing lots of M&A work in Europe but not in US, or the other way around (plus it changes with time).

So I'd suggest that you:

Target the main ones (MBB + top tier 2) - they always have plenty of projects in this area
Network for the rest of the firms to understand whether that's the sort of work they focus on. Use the guide below to handle the networking discussions:

Your Guide to Consulting Coffee Chats

Last but not least, if you're applying in this area, considering how ‘great’ the market is at the moment, make sure that you apply broadly and have a proper strategy for it.

You can use the following free guide I created for candidates on how to build an application strategy. Hope you'll find it useful.

Maximising your chances of getting a consulting job during an economic downturn

Best of luck!!
Cristian

Answer 3

Hi there,

You're right to target MBB (especially Bain). You're also right that the Big4 would be worth targeting (especially EYP).

You need to get networking to figure out exactly what's right for you, but there are a number of other firms like A&M, AlixPartners, LEK, etc.

Answer 4

Hi,

Happy to share a perspective having worked in BCG's PIPE practice.

Examples of firms to join have already been shared by other coaches - but let me talk a little bit more in terms of the nature of work w.r.t client (investor) needs

CDD/VDD will typically be the bulk of the work you get in the PE/transaction advisory
Others may sound cooler or more interesting, but the reality is that some (e.g. fund strategy) are only done once in a while (how often can a fund refresh its strategy?), or the ones that are more frequent arguably can be done by other types of partners (e.g. identifying actual targets or M&A leads is often better done by bankers)
- The other nuance is that for things like investment growth/inorganic growth → this often falls in under an existing industry client account, rather than the PE practice (depending on how close the practice areas work together)
- Same will go for PMI
Thus - even at MBB, don't be surprised that the bulk of the work is still CDD/VDD

Happy to shed more insights on this based on my experience - just drop me a dm

Answer 5

Hi there,

as some other coaches mentioned, there will be plenty of firms that give you this exposure, in different angles. From top of my head, some good choices..

MBB (especially Bain and BCG) -
Big 4
Alvarez & Marsal, Alix Partners, RB, LEK, OW (in certain regions)

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi