Investment Banking Analyst - Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

Solutions for Today’s Challenges. Vision for Tomorrow’s Opportunities.

Join William Blair, the Premier Global Partnership.

William Blair has delivered trusted advice for nine decades, and we continue to deepen our expertise and relationships across regions, asset classes, and markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

We are committed to our people and culture, values, clients, and local communities.

What sets us apart is that we are an independent partnership, with employees who have unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet clients’ evolving needs amid dynamic market conditions and varying industries.

We strive to attract the most qualified, passionate candidates who specialize in investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, and a variety of other business functions.

We work tirelessly to create an inclusive culture and take pride in fostering employees’ professional and personal growth. We empower our people to bring their best thinking each day so we can deliver the tailored, thoughtful work and problem-solving abilities that our clients expect.

Equally, we are proud of our long-term partnerships with the communities in which we live and work, a legacy we inherited from our founder.

We invite you to learn about how we are seeking excellence in everything we do and empowering our clients’ success with passion, creativity, and rigor. For more information, visit williamblair.com.

ABOUT THE TEAM:

William Blair’s Mergers & Acquisitions team has extensive experience working with highly sophisticated public company management teams and Boards and premier private companies to help them evaluate their strategic alternatives and maximize stakeholder value. The team works across sectors, geographies and products to provide integrated and holistic advice to leading public and private companies on matters related to:

• Sell-side M&A
• Buy-side M&A
• Board and special committee advisory
• Corporate separation
• Strategic alternatives analysis
• Capital structure optimization
• Take-over and activist defense
• Fairness opinions

JOB SUMMARY & RESPONSIBILITIES:

William Blair’s Investment Banking M&A Analysts can harness their potential by being part of a culture of collaboration and accountability that offers compelling analytical work and direct client exposure. Your personal and professional growth will be accelerated by working alongside senior bankers who have a vested interest in your development.

Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Perform extensive financial/valuation analyses to value debt and equity for mergers, acquisitions and capital raising transactions. Form varied approaches to analyses once fundamental base of approach is set.
• Build financial models to value potential and actual clients and/or industries. Execute core valuation methods, such as comparable companies, precedents and discounted cash flow. Effectively synthesize information to convey complex financial modeling outcomes.
• Perform due diligence, research, analysis and documentation of potential and live transactions. Identify potential deal issues and properly escalate concerns to team members.
• Draft management presentations to highlight financial analysis and research results.
• Assist in the development, production and delivery of proposals and presentations to clients and prospects. Draft marketing materials, emphasizing the advantages of William Blair and its investment banking methods/approach.
• Participate in client meetings and drafting sessions.
• Research industries or sectors, as identified by senior bankers, to target certain clients or industries. Evaluate and improve BIC content. Leverage learnings across deals.
• Seek opportunities to streamline processes and propose solutions to complete tasks more efficiently.
• Support client relationship development by developing a detailed understanding of client needs and challenges, providing professional and responsive service and anticipating client information needs.
• Develop an understanding of macro factors related to client industry, investment banking products and potential implications.
• Mentor summer interns and invest in teaching subsequent classes of analysts, imparting best practices.
• Ensure all activities are in compliance with applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Additional responsibilities as requested.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• Prior investment banking experience required; previous experie