Mergers and Acquisitions Career | List of Top 4 Careers Options in M&A

List of Top 4 Mergers and Acquisitions Career

Career List in Merger & Acquisitions: Below mentioned are some of the Merger & Acquisition roles that a person can reach in his carrier.

Merger & Acquisition Analyst
Merger & Acquisitions Associate
Vice President
Partner

Overview of Merger & Acquisitions

Merger & Acquisition refers to the consolidation of two companies into one company either by merging the company’s assets and liabilities or by acquiring the entire equity capital. It is a strategic move by the top management in order to consolidate the revenues and assets of two companies into one in order to increase the strength and balance sheet.

A merger gives each party an equal shareholding right in the combined entity for executing the transaction. below mentioned are some of the types of M&A in the industry.
- Horizontal Merger: A horizontal merger refers to the merger of two companies in the same business.
- Vertical Merger: Vertical Merger refers to buying the main supplier of the business. eg: a steel trader buys the manufacturer of steel.
- Conglomerate Merger: Conglomerate Merger refers to the merger of two companies having different business line altogether.
- Statutory Merger: Statutory Merger refers to holding the target for a very long time to create synergies.
- Merger of Equals: It refers to the merger of two companies having a similar size in terms of balance sheets and revenues.
M&A deals are financed either by cash, debit or equity route.
Every large organization has an M&A department in its company focusing on merger and acquisition opportunities in the market.
M&A professionals also work in sell-side investment banks who advise companies on the M&A strategies and the complete process to execute the transaction.

Since it requires extensive expertise in the field, the company hires M&A experts who have hands-on experience to work on complex financial models and structures. Hence M&A profile is one of the most crucial roles in any investment bank or a large corporate house since it helps in building synergies.

Career #1 – Merger & Acquisition Analyst

Who is a Merger and Acquisition Analyst?

Mergers and Acquisition analyst does the ground level work in the deal process. They mostly work on the due diligence and market and peer group research of the companies. An analyst is expected to work long hours on the assignment and present a report on the findings.

Merger & Acquisitions Analyst - Job Description
Responsibilities	Responsible for completing the entire due diligence in them & a process by conducting client meetings and sharing of information.
Designation	M & A Analyst
Actual Role	Work closely with the senior executives of the firm and provide them with a detailed report on both the merging companies along with the due diligence analytics.
Job Statistics	No data has been shared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US.
Top Companies	All large corporates & bulge bracket investment banks.
Salary	The median annual salary for an M & A analyst will be between $80,000 to $1,00,000.
Demand & Supply	Highly demanded profile since it requires extensive modeling skills along with experience working on large databases & knowledge about multiple sectors and companies which are active in the Merger & Acquisitions Space.
Education Requirement	FA/CPA / MBA/ Valuation Expert from Tier -1 Universities with at least 5-10 Yrs of Exp.
Recommended Courses	CPA/ MBA / CFP/ CFA
Positives	Chance to work on the M & A deal in the due diligence process which can be a booster to the candidate's career in future.
Negatives	Extensive working on presentations and databases.

#2 – Merger & Acquisitions Associate

Who is a Merger and Acquisition Associate?

Merger and Acquisition Associate oversees the work of the junior analyst and guides him in the entire due diligence process with various things like ppt, excels, etc. He reports to the VP with regard s to the day to day operations and the status of the deal.

Merger & Acquisitions Associate - Job Description
Responsibilities	Responsible for mentoring the analyst and make them work in complex financial structures to enhance their research & analytical skills.
Designation	M & A Associate
Actual Role	Support the vice president in the M & A Deal with the right kind of information researched from the market.
Job Statistics	No data has been shared on the Bureau of Labour statistics of US.
Top Companies	JP Morgan, E&Y, KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, Rainmaker Group are some of the top M & A firms in the world.
Salary	The median annual salary for an M & A associate can be anywhere between $2,00,000 to $3,50,000 since it is a professional role.
Demand & Supply	A very high demand for the role since it requires extensive experience in the sector along with exposure to multiple M & A deals.
Education Requirement	CFA/CPA / MBA from Tier -1 Universities with at least 7-10 Yrs of Exp.
Recommended Courses	CFA/CPA/ MBA
Positives	A team leader role in managing a team of analyst and assigning them tasks on a regular basis.
Negatives	Long working hours researching the market can be a tiring job.

Career #3 – Vice President

Who is a Vice President?

Vice President leads them & a department and is responsible to carry out the merger in the best possible manner. He reports directly to the partner / CEO of the firm/company about the performance of the team members and the status of the deal on a periodic basis.

Vice President - Job Description
Responsibilities	Responsible for arranging client meetings and letting them know the synergies of the merger or acquisition.
Designation	Debt syndication manager.
Actual Role	To build a detailed cash flow plan for the company over the tenure of the debt raised so as to ensure sufficient funds are always available with the company to satisfy the debts obligations.
Job Statistics	The bureau of labor statistics of us does not display data on this role.
Top Companies	JP Morgan, E &Y, KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, Rainmaker group are some of the top M & A firms in the world.
Salary	The median annual salary for a general manager can be anywhere between $ 3,00,000 - $5,00,000.
Demand & Supply	Highly demanded to profile them & a role is a very niche role in the industry and requires a very high experience person to drive the deal forward.
Education Requirement	CFA/CPA/MBA/valuation expert with 20+ yrs of exp in the valuation field.
Recommended Courses	CFA/CPA/MBA
Positives	Leads the department and allocates work to the team members.
Negatives	Risky profile to work because, in the case of financial issues, he is the one who will be asked to leave the company because of the higher compensation.

Career #4 – Partner

Who is a Partner?

Partner is in charge of the M&A vertical in an accounting firm. He is in charge of the full department and ensures that the firm keeps on getting new deals from the market through his network.

Partner - Job Description
Responsibilities	Responsible for generating M & A deals from the market through relationships and networking skills.
Designation	Partner
Actual Role	Business development for the firm as all the team members depend upon the partner.
Job Statistics	No data has been displayed by the bureau of labor statistics.
Top Companies	Deloitte, KPMG, PWC, E&Y, GT are the top 5 big CA firms in the world.
Salary	The median annual salary for the same can be anywhere between $ 5,00,000 to $10,00,000
Demand & Supply	It is a specialized role and requires a high level of experience and skills to achieve it.
Education Requirement	CFA/CPA / MBA from tier -1 universities with at least 15-20 yrs of exp.
Recommended Courses	CPA/MBA/CFA
Positives	A chance to take part in the profits of the company.
Negatives	High responsibility since all the team members depend upon the network and the ability of the partner to bring business for the firm.

Conclusion

Mergers and Acquisitions is one of the topmost favored careers in any company/investment bank. M&A models are one of the most complex financial models built in the industry since it analyses 2 companies at a time and tries to build synergies among the two. This is a very scary profile for the professionals in the industry to display their Analytical & Technical skills and enhance their career opportunities in the future.

Further, this is a great opportunity for any candidate to work since it is the topmost demanded and most favored jobs in the market amongst the finance professionals. To make a Career in Merger & Acquisition, one has to work in a Boutique Investment Bank at his early stages to learn & get a chance to work on the full deal cycle.