Consultants as the players, bankers as the house: gaining competitive advantage in merger and acquisition advisory services Online publication date: Wed, 14-Jan-2009
by Richard B. Connell, Tatiana Zalan, Jack Cadeaux
International Journal of Financial Services Management (IJFSM), Vol. 3, No. 3/4, 2008
Abstract: The unprecedented worldwide growth in the aggregate transaction value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has been accompanied by a concomitant increase in the advisory fees. Management consultants have challenged the status of banks in the latter's largely exclusive domain of M&A advisory services. Based on an in-depth inquiry into M&A decisions made by 27 medium and large-sized companies in Europe, the USA and Asia-Pacific, we investigate the decision-making processes used by bankers and consultants to undertake M&A advisory work. From the point of view of the financial services provider, we highlight the areas where banks have or can gain competitive advantage over consultants through the pricing mechanism, based either on contingency, fixed fees or a combination of both. We conclude that consultants may win from accepting M&A work in the short term but the long-term odds favour the banks.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Financial Services Management (IJFSM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook