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What do M&A consultants do?
Successful acquisitions are critical for growth. With Fintalent, you get access to the world’s top M&A talent – without paying the overhead of traditional M&A consultancies. Our talents are specialised in 2,900+ industries, from analyst to senior level. Supplement your sector experience, or get access to an M&A project manager to take care of the deal when you don’t have the internal resources for it.
Find your Fintalent with expertise in exit strategies, divestitures, consolidation and acquisition strategy, information memorandum, acquihire, joint venture, due diligence, company valuation, target screening and assessment.
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We specialize in M&A.
Largest selection (2000+) of highly qualified, vetted professionals. -
Global experts.
40+ countries, 2,900+ sectors - we apply laser-focus to find the right professional for the jobs. -
Fast through technology.
Our online platform enables client-centric, extremely fast service - paired with a personal contact.
Inorganic growth is a big part of our strategy. We were looking for a global partner to help us with our buy-side M&A projects, and found Fintalent. From first contact to project start took less than 2 weeks. The quality of talent is exceptional. Now, we’re already talking to potential targets.
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Frequently asked questions
About our M&A services
What clients usually engage your M&A consultants?
We work with clients from all over the world. Our clients range from enterprise and corporate clients to companies that are backed by Private Equity or Venture Capital funds. Furthermore, we work directly with Family Offices, Private Equity firms, and Asset Managers. Most of our enterprise clients have dedicated Corporate Development, M&A, and Strategy divisions which are utilizing our pool of M&A talent to add on-demand and flexible resources, expertise, or staff to their in-house team.
How is Fintalent different?
Fintalent is not a staffing agency. We are a community of best-in-class M&A professionals, highly specialized within their domains. We have streamlined the process of engaging the best M&A talent and are able to provide clients with M&A professionals within 48 hours of first engaging them. We believe that our platform provides more value for Corporates, Ventures, Private Equity and Venture Capital firms, and Family Offices.
Which skills and expertise do your Fintalents have?
What does Community-Approach and ‘Invite-to-Apply’ mean?
‘Invite-to-Apply’ is the process by which we shortlist candidates for the majority of projects on our platform. Often, due to the confidential nature of our clients’ projects, we do not release projects to our whole platform but using our matching technology and expertise of our internal team we select candidates who are the best fit for our clients’ needs.
This approach also ensures engagement with our community of professionals on the Fintalent platform, and is a benefit both to our clients and independent professionals, as our freelancers have direct access to the roles best suited to their skills and are more likely to take an interest in a project if they have been sought out directly. In addition, if a member of our community is unavailable for a project but knows someone whose skill set perfectly fits the brief, they are able to invite them to apply for the role, utilizing the personal networks of each talent on our platform.
How does the screening and onboarding of your M&A advisors work?
Fintalent.io is an invite-only platform and we believe in the power of referrals and a closed-loop community. Members of our community are able to invite a small number of professionals onto the platform. In addition, our team actively scouts for the best talent who have experience in investment banking or have worked at a global top management consultancy. All of our community-referred talent and scouted talent are subject to a rigorous screening process. As such, over the last 18 months totaling more than 750 hours of onboarding calls, of which only 40% have received an invite-link after the call.
What does a freelance M&A consultant do?
A freelance mergers and acquisitions consultant is a professional who advises companies on how to grow by acquiring other businesses. They help their client companies evaluate the worth of acquisition targets, negotiate prices, and make sense of data like balance sheets and income statements.
Consultants provide strategic guidance to companies during the acquisition process, in order to help their clients make informed decisions. A merger and acquisition consultant may identify potential targets and evaluate how a particular business will fit with a client company’s long-term goals
Hiring the right mergers and acquisitions consultant
The role of an M&A consultant ranges from providing strategic advice to CEOs, to assisting in transactions as a trusted advisor, to financing the deal as the lead investment banker.
Determining which type of M&A expert you need depends on what part of the process they can help with. A corporate finance expert would only be needed if your company wants to raise money for a transaction through debt or equity financing, whereas an industry-specific advisor might be more appropriate if you want them to help with valuation due diligence.
There are a wide variety of merger and acquisition specialists in the market. Some specialize in a specific industry, such as healthcare, media, or technology. Some specialize in a function within the business, such as finance or HR.
The majority of M&A consultants have been involved with large transactions outside of their own industry, so they bring a unique perspective to thinking about your situation from a global perspective. In addition to their transactional expertise, they may have business acumen and industry domain knowledge so you will benefit from their thinking on how the market has changed and how that could affect your transaction. Some mergers and acquisitions consultants also have experience working at an executive level before transitioning into freelance work.
A freelance M&A consultant may help with:
- Business and strategic advice, such as identifying growth opportunities or determining if your company is a good acquisition target.
- Due diligence of the target company to make sure it’s a good fit for your company. An industrial/financial/strategic advisor would review financials, industrial strategy and future prospects, operations and supply chain operations, technology and patents, regulatory issues. A corporate finance M&A advisor would provide financial advice on valuation and financing structure for the deal.
- Strategic planning for implementing an acquisition. An industrial/financial/strategic advisor would review integration scenarios and synergy opportunities. A corporate finance advisor would help with the financing and structuring of the deal.
- Valuation due diligence to determine if the target company is a good fit for your company and if it’s worth pursuing. An industrial/financial/strategic advisor would review financials, industry and market trends, and potential future revenue and profit growth. A corporate mergers and acquisitions advisor would provide valuation advice and assistance with structuring a transaction.
- Preparation for purchasing an existing business; such as acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, equity investments, stock swaps or other types of transactions that involve business combinations between companies or their subsidiaries.
- Post-transaction assistance/advisory.
- Strategic planning support.
- Due diligence service for the M&A process.
- Put together a syndicate of lenders, investment bankers, deal advisers, accountants and attorneys to work with your company on a specific deal. The lead investment banker is the person who will be responsible for knowledge of the target company’s industry and who will be working directly with management teams to accomplish the closing.
What makes a good M&A consultant?
- There’s a lot that goes into the making of a good freelance mergers and acquisitions consultant, and it goes well beyond what you might expect.
- They’re versatile: there’s no such thing as “just an M&A person,” and the same goes for freelance M&A consultants. They must be able to perform many different functions in addition to leading mergers and acquisitions projects. It would be surprising if they weren’t able to provide services for regulatory purposes too, or if they weren’t also able to coordinate with your existing in-house M&A team.
- They’re experienced: mergers and acquisitions consultants often have extensive experience working with similar types of deals. It’s not unusual for them to have worked on dozens of different transactions over the years, which helps them identify potential risks and trouble spots for each client.
- They’re strategic: you want someone who’s good at developing a strategy that can realistically guide you through complex transaction challenges. This includes critically evaluating how your resources currently fit into the deal as well as identifying any gaps that may need to be filled.
- Their interpersonal skills are strong: they need to communicate clearly and effectively with the people on your team, especially when they have questions or need direction. They also have to be able to work well with the in-house staff responsible for handling a transaction, in order to ensure a smooth transition between freelance services and a company’s in-house M&A team.
- They have good writing skills: being able to write clearly and concisely is an extremely important skill for a freelance M&A consultant. In addition to crafting reports that can help you assemble a compelling case for your investment committee or the advisory board.
- They’re professional: they must be able to show up on time, every time, and to maintain a great attitude throughout the course of your project. People in mergers and acquisitions need to ensure that they deliver on their promises and that they can help you find a mutually beneficial outcome for everyone involved in the deal.
- They have a strong networking strategy: finding a M&A consultant isn’t always easy. It’s important for you to have a good plan of action so that you can talk to different people about your needs without wasting too much time. This will ensure that you can get to know someone who’s right for the job, and who’s available at the right time.
These are all great starting points for any consultant in mergers and acquisitions, but in order to have an effective working relationship with them, it’s important to understand something about their environment in particular.
Difference between M&A consultant and advisor
M&A consultants and advisors are used interchangeably. Generally, advisors work on long-term projects, while consultants work on short-term projects. However, these definitions are not always used consistently.
Communication with the M&A consultant/specialist
We all want someone who is reliable and professional, but this is often hard enough when dealing with in-house teams. When you’re talking to someone outside of your organization, communication and setting expectations right is key!
Bad communication: this is typically the biggest cause of frustration. In many cases, the M&A consultant’s team is able to handle most of the communication to and from you. Or they may not have a team at all, which means you’ll have to fill in the gaps yourself. Whatever it is, it can quickly become hard for you to make sense of what’s going on with your deal during these times.
How do you find a good freelance M&A consultant?
Short answer: On our Fintalent platform 🙂
We recommend starting by making sure that they’re familiar with your industry and your business needs. You can also use their previous experience to see if they’re the right fit for your transaction. Additionally, you should probe their network to see how they’re familiar with your area.
You should also do some research into the type of work that they’ve done over the course of their career. Look at the types of clients that they’ve worked alongside in addition to which industries they’ve served most often. This will give you a good idea of whether or not they’ll be able to handle your project effectively.
Ideally, you’ll want someone who has handled similar transactions before, who understands the risks involved with this type of deal, and who can help you avoid unnecessary trouble down the line.