Throw on some beer goggles to get a clearer look at the business of M&A advice. The bulge-bracket brewers of both lager and corporate finance had been losing market share to smaller craft practitioners. Stout makers of mergers, however, are staging a slow pour of a comeback.
In the first three months of the year, some 51 per cent of the global fees paid on completed deals went to the nine large global banks, including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting. That's up from 44 per cent a year ago, a cut that marked a nadir after an almost uninterrupted 14-year decline from 63 per cent in 2000.
Independent and boutique investment banks such as Greenhill and Evercore guzzled most of it, jumping from 9.6 per cent of the market in 2000 to around 21 per cent by 2013. The financial crisis reinforced questions about potential conflicts of interest at mega-banks and prompted an exodus of advisors who opened their own artisanal shops.
Big Beer has suffered a similar incursion as drinkers seek out more specialised offerings. There are now some 3,400 craft brewers in the United States, more than double the number in 2008, according to the Brewers Association. Last year, they accounted for 11 per cent of the beer brewed and 19 per cent of sales.
Microbrewers can achieve scale, too. Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams, and Sierra Nevada are on a par with, say, Greenhill and Moelis, while Flying Dog and Rogue Ales might be more suitably compared to Zaoui & Co and Paul Taubman's fledgling boutique. That probably makes Lazard something of a snakebite - half lager, half cider.
Wall Street's up-and-comers have slipped a bit in recent months, with their share of fees tumbling to about 17 per cent. The Budweisers of M&A are only a small reason why. It's more to do with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which together claimed an additional 6.3 percentage points of the market. That makes them Guinness-like: big brands which, despite an often polarising effect, almost always command respect.
In the first three months of the year, some 51 per cent of the global fees paid on completed deals went to the nine large global banks, including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting. That's up from 44 per cent a year ago, a cut that marked a nadir after an almost uninterrupted 14-year decline from 63 per cent in 2000.
Independent and boutique investment banks such as Greenhill and Evercore guzzled most of it, jumping from 9.6 per cent of the market in 2000 to around 21 per cent by 2013. The financial crisis reinforced questions about potential conflicts of interest at mega-banks and prompted an exodus of advisors who opened their own artisanal shops.
More From This Section
Microbrewers can achieve scale, too. Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams, and Sierra Nevada are on a par with, say, Greenhill and Moelis, while Flying Dog and Rogue Ales might be more suitably compared to Zaoui & Co and Paul Taubman's fledgling boutique. That probably makes Lazard something of a snakebite - half lager, half cider.
Wall Street's up-and-comers have slipped a bit in recent months, with their share of fees tumbling to about 17 per cent. The Budweisers of M&A are only a small reason why. It's more to do with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which together claimed an additional 6.3 percentage points of the market. That makes them Guinness-like: big brands which, despite an often polarising effect, almost always command respect.