Deal Origination also is known as the deal sourcing refers to the process which is used by the firms in order to source the investment prospects either by the means of gaining the knowledge present in the market or by the means of creating the deal for themselves using the connection with the involved parties.

What is Deal Origination?

In simple terms, Deal Origination is the sourcing of investment opportunities by Investment Banks, Private Equity and Venture Capital Firms.

Deal Origination is a process by which firms source Investment prospects which are done either by gaining knowledge of the deals taking place in the market and finding out who is selling so as to make a competitive bid for the deal or by creating a deal for themselves through their relationship with intermediaries.
Also known as Deal Sourcing, it is the first and the most important step through which these firms pitch the potential buyers of their advisory services and their product offerings (Mergers and Acquisition, Capital Raising, Equity Capital Markets, Debt Financing etc) and how they can provide assistance to the potential clients.

The above image is a snapshot of the roles and responsibilities of those who are a part of the deal origination team. The sample responsibilities are as per below

Sourcing acquisition for the company in the range of $3mn – $20mn EBITDA
Execute coverage program of M&A deal sources
Identify industry and targeted geographies to promote private equity investments.
Manage the entire acquisition process including deal origination, execution, negotiations, due diligence, documentations and more.

Most Popular Deal Sourcing Strategies

A success of this Deal Origination is fundamental and most important to the success and survival of an Investment Bank. It relies on the past success of these firms and their execution capability and reputation in the market. Deal Sourcing although a time-consuming task but a necessary task for keeping a full pipeline of a steady flow of deals for these firms.

Some of the most popular Deal Origination strategies adopted by the firm include:

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#1 – In-House Deal Sourcing

Under this strategy, firms employ a dedicated deal sourcing team which works on a full-time employment basis for the Investment Firms and includes experienced finance professionals who are having extensive knowledge of Deal Sourcing in markets and enjoys a wide network of contacts and a good reputation.

#2 – Deal Sourcing Specialist on Contract/Assignment Basis

Deal Sourcing Specialist on Contract/Assignment Basis are specialized firms/Individuals who are freelance/specialized firms in this Origination whose main task is to work with Investment Banks in sourcing clients and are usually paid on an assignment basis and are not fully employed by the firm. Such Individuals/firms usually work with multiple clients and have a wide experience in Deal Sourcing.

Skills Involved in Deal Origination

source: indeed.com

It involves pitching the services that the firm can offer to the client but along with that it is imperative to understand the need of the client so that the right offer is made which is mutually beneficial to both the parties.
These Deal Sourcing professionals require strong analytical skills and financial appraisal skills with a proven track record of strategic thinking and expertise in Deal Initiation service.
Such firms/Individuals should possess extensive sector expertise to pitch the right note for their firms in front of prospective clients.

Approaches to Deal Origination

#1 – Network Approach

Under this approach, the investment firm makes use of its existing client network and reputation among the investor community to source new deals.

It is the oldest and the most commonly used method of Deal Origination which is still in use. However, this method is quite a labor-intensive as it involves accessing the business owners in the immediate network, screening through inbound leads, speaking to investment intermediaries and proprietary deal sourcing.
The probability of converting the leads into a deal is also minimal in this method and with the growing competitive environment access to industry-specific knowledge helps in gaining an advantage over others.
Furthermore, it is difficult to determine the conversion rates of leads to deal completion in case of this approach and that makes companies performance with its peers in Deal Sourcing using this method impossible.

#2 – Online Deal Sourcing

Under this approach, firms make use of financial technology companies to source deals through their platforms which act as a matchmaker by facilitating Mergers and Amalgamations firms who are scouting for buy side and sell side opportunities.

These financial technology firms act as a plug and play solution and make use of an intelligent matching algorithm to connect interested parties.
With the Online Deal Origination approach firms can easily analyze the conversion rates and performance management in securing deals.
This approach also allows companies to easily connect with buyers and sellers virtually and avail the services of these platforms by paying a periodic subscription which is substantially less compared to keeping dedicated in-house teams and more efficient as well.
This approach most importantly allows a firm to widen its reach which spans across geographical locations and makes the process fully automated as well due to the standardized mechanism use by online deal sourcing platform companies.
Some of the popular online deal sourcing platforms include Navatar, Dealsuite, Brookz, etc.

Conclusion

Deal Sourcing is an important and indispensable function performed by finance professionals working in Investment Banks, Venture Capital firms and Private Equity firms. It is the first step in creating a deal and involves generating deals to pitch to potential buyers.

Firms make use of both the traditional approach as well as the new age Online Deal origination approach. Both approaches are aimed at ensuring a large volume of deal flow to maintain a viable deal flow pipeline; however, the online deal origination approach is slowly and gradually gaining major share through which deal origination is done in the current scenario.

Financial Technology companies such as Navatar, Dealsuite etc allows business owners, advisors, private equity firms and strategic buyers to post their mid-market sell-side listing and buy-side mandates through the use of their sophisticated technology platforms which make use of the advanced algorithm in connecting the right parties. Using these advanced algorithm companies can specify their target industry, transaction size, location preference, and industry criteria etc thereby substantially reducing the time taken in the Deal Origination process and also improves the conversion rate through automation of processes.