Top 5 Reasons You Should Hire a Generalist Investment Banker
When considering hiring a merger and acquisition advisor to assist in the sale of your business, or a capital raising expert to assist on your next capital raise, choosing the right investment bank advisory firm is a crucial step in achieving the best outcome for your company. Hiring a generalist investment banker instead of an industry specialist investment banker might be the best decision you could make to ensure the successful sale of your business or capital raise. Generalist M&A advisory firms bring broad industry and transaction experience, offering creative deal strategies and transaction experience. Typically, they have access to a broad network of buyers, investors and partners, and fewer potential conflicts of interest than industry specialists.
Here are the top five reasons to hire a generalist investment banking advisory firm like Keene Advisors:
Top 5 Advantages of Hiring a Generalist Investment Banker:
Generalist investment bankers often have experience across in a wide range of transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), equity and debt financings, and restructuring transactions. This versatility can be helpful for complex transactions or if you decide to pivot or change strategies during the M&A sale or capital raising process.
With exposure to multiple industries, generalist investment banks provide insights into market trends and opportunities that extend beyond your specific sector. This broader perspective can help uncover unconventional buyers, investors, or deal structures that an industry-specific merger and acquisition advisor or capital raising advisor might overlook.
Industry specialists may have biases or preconceived notions about how deals should be executed in their sector.
Generalist investment banking advisors bring a fresh, unbiased perspective, potentially identifying opportunities or risks that specialists might overlook
With experience across various sectors, generalist M&A advisory firms and capital raising advisors are often adept at crafting innovative deal strategies and transaction structures.
Generalist merger and acquisition advisors and capital raising advisors may identify synergies or approaches that don't rely solely on industry-specific norms by borrowing from successful strategies in other industries.
Industry-specific merger and acquisition advisors and capital raising advisors may have established relationships with your competitors, potential buyers, or industry specialist investors, creating a conflict of interest since they depend on them to grow and maintain their business over the long-run.
Generalist investment banking advisors can be completely focused on prioritizing your best interests, optimizing outcomes for you without being influenced by industry participants.
Generalist investment bankers maintain relationships with companies and investors across a broad spectrum of industries.
This expansive network can be advantageous in finding potential buyers or investors who are not industry insiders but are still highly motivated and well-funded. Sometimes the most motivated buyer or investor is looking for an investment opportunity to expand to a new industry or looking for a new platform.
If your business could appeal to buyers or investors in adjacent industries, a generalist M&A and capital raising advisor is more likely to recognize and tap into these cross-sector opportunities. For instance, a tech company could be the best buyer for a consumer company (Google’s acquisition of Fitbit), or a grocery store chain (Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods), a social media platform (Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn), or a healthcare company (Amazon’s acquisition of Pillpack).
In addition, successful transaction structures that have been popularized in some industries could have applicability in your industry. A generalist merger and acquisition and capital raising advisor may be more likely to have relevant experience and be able to apply them to your situation. For example, in 2016, Hilton Hotels announced a spinoff of its real estate holdings into a separate entity to focus on its hotel management business. A similar strategy was adopted in 2024 by residential home builder Lennar when they spun-off their real estate holdings to focus on its homebuilding operations.
Hiring a generalist investment banker could be the best choice to help you achieve a successful transaction, if you want:
Broader transaction and market experience
Creative deal strategies
Fewer conflicts of interest
Access to a wider network of buyers and investors
To leverage best practices across industries
Contact Keene Advisors today to discuss your current strategic goals and learn how our generalist merger and acquisition advisory and capital raising practice could fit your needs.
Keene Advisors is a full-service Boston-based investment banking and strategy consulting firm. Our team has completed over $40 billion in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, capital raising, and restructuring advisory transactions and a wide range of strategic engagements for clients across many industries.
Disclaimer: This commentary is intended for general informational purposes only. Keene Advisors does not render or offer to render personalized financial, investment, tax, legal or accounting advice through this report. The information provided herein is not directed at any investor or category of investors and is provided solely as general information. No information contained herein should be regarded as a suggestion to engage in or refrain from any investment-related course of action. Keene Advisors does not provide securities related services or recommendations to retail investors. Nothing in this report should be construed as, and may not be used in connection with, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or hold, an interest in any security or investment product.