 Welcome to the third part in our mini-series on banks. In this video, we are discussing an important revenue driver of the investment bank, mergers and acquisitions, also known as M&A. Simply put, M&A advisors work within the investment bank, acting as the intermediaries between an acquirer and a target. An acquirer might be another company looking to benefit from increased market share and pricing power, cost and revenue synergies, new market expansion or access to new technologies. The acquirer might also be a financial sponsor or private equity firm, seeking to acquire, improve and then sell an underperforming cash flow generative company. The target might be a privately run company whose long standing owners want to exit or a publicly listed company deemed to be undervalued by public market investors or even a financial sponsor owned company being sold to realise upside for the PE fund. The goal of an M&A advisor is to act on behalf of the client to get the very best terms whilst executing a quick and smooth process. If a bank has a buy side mandate, it will seek to help the acquirer buy the target for a reasonable price, ensuring that all liabilities and risks are incorporated into the final sale and purchase agreement. If the bank holds a sell side mandate, it might need to conduct a process where potential acquirers are whittled down to the preferred buyer. Once the preferred buyer has been chosen, a short term exclusivity period provides the space for an often frantic negotiation to complete the transaction. Supporting the transactions are a host of lawyers, due diligence providers, banks and capital market advisors who work together to fund and execute the transaction. Now M&A is an exciting place to work and can be very lucrative for banks who get a percentage of the total deal value. However fees can be volatile and are highly correlated to the business cycle. Furthermore, due to the competitive and often time sensitive nature of the industry, hours tend to be extremely long for junior bankers. Graduates who are financially proficient enjoy Excel modelling and are willing to put in the hours we'll thrive in this industry.