Mergers & Acquisitions Outreach Analyst

Company: Benchmark International
Location: Nashville
Posted on: February 25, 2021

Job Description:

The Nashville office of Benchmark International is now looking for business professionals to fill an entry-level role on its sell-side mergers and acquisitions team. Our analysts begin learning negotiation skills, valuation metrics, and the entire M&A process from their first day on the job. They engage clients and potential acquirers on a daily basis working to generate buyer interest in our clients, negotiate the terms of non-disclosure agreements, and begin the response to the buyer's due diligence investigation into their team's portfolio of businesses for sale. This is a role requiring the ability to hold your own against business owners, private equity associates, and business development professionals from Fortune 500 companies. You will work on multiple files, across a variety of industries, every day. As an entry-level position, you will not be expected to have any particular M&A knowledge but must have a keen interest in growing your knowledge-base in this exciting field of business. All aspects of the company sale process will unfold on the trading floor within easy earshot of your workstation. As you gain experience, your involvement and responsibilities will progress further through the process. As there is more than enough work to go around on our teams, those with the interest and ability will be given additional responsibilities on a case by case basis after first proving their ability to go eye-to-eye with the various constituencies involved in the process and come out with favorable results for our clients. Client origination, general firm marketing, and similar operational distractions are taken off the teams' plates, keeping to Benchmark International's model. This allows a more focused approach on operations and portfolio management. The teams' obligations regarding each client commence with a signed engagement letter and detailed file, prepared by the separate Deal Origination Department, and continue through every aspect of the transaction (other than legal and accounting services) to the closing and collection of the resulting success fee. Job requirements As an analyst, you must be highly energetic and passionate individual with a positive and highly motivated can-do attitude. You must have the strong desire and ambition to succeed in this hugely rewarding industry. It is also vital for your role as an analyst that you possess excellent verbal and written communication, analytic, mathematical, and interpersonal skills as well as presentation abilities. Our analysts deal only with existing clients. As a client-facing role, each analyst must be able to convey bad news and deal with clients' unique sensitivities while keeping each client moving through the company sales process at a steady pace. Specific qualifications for the M&A Outreach Analyst include:

• Experienced in professional business writing.
• Prioritization and organization skills.
• Proficiency in Word, Outlook, and Excel.
• Communication skills: written and verbal; delivering information in an empathetic, yet persuasive manner.
• Proficiency with online research including proprietary sources such as Hoovers, IBISWorld, DealNexus, PrivCo, Corpfin, Pitchbook, OneSource, and First Research.
• Commercial understanding and awareness of business.
• Possession of a valid and current driver license.
• A bachelor's degree with a concentration (or an advanced degree) in Business, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Marketing, or Accounting or an unrelated degree with significant work experience in one or more of these fields.
• Ability to consistently present yourself in a professional manner in keeping with Benchmark International's image (as shown, for example, on the company's web site).
• Availability and willingness to work outside normal business hours at times, whether early or late, as required by client schedules and expectations.
• Availability and willingness to travel for occasional overnight trips on short notice (rarely, if ever, longer than two days).
• Ability to obtain a Florida real estate sales associate license within 90 days of employment.
• Absence of any unfavorable history with FINRA, the SEC, or any state regulatory agency. Job responsibilities Analysts will work together in pairs, under the direct supervision of an associate serving in the role of Deal Associate. The role of Deal Associate serves as the next logical step in the analyst's advancement and they will thus have clear visibility into future potential career opportunities. Your specific duties as an analyst will include:
  • Developing and building relationships with Benchmark International's clients (business owners pursuing the sale of their business) and pool of potential acquirers for those businesses. This is a front-line role involving frequent communication with seller-clients and buyers, primarily via phone and email.
  • Managing early stages of each acquirer-seller relationship from introduction to preliminary negotiations including (i) performing research to uncover potential companies and individuals interested in acquiring businesses owned by Benchmark's clients, (ii) reaching out to potential acquirers via phone and email, (iii) managing client's profiles on third party and proprietary online portals and responding to inquiries on such portals, (iv) negotiating nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with potential acquirers, (v) preparing executed NDAs and acquirer profiles for clients, (vi) obtaining clients' approval of NDA's and potential acquirers' access to client's marketing materials which contain sensitive business data, (vii) fielding approved potential acquirers' additional questions about clients, replying where possible and seeking additional data form clients where required, (vii) arranging meetings and conference calls between clients and acquirers, occasionally moderating such calls, (vii) following up on conference calls and on sites and developing follow on course of action, and (viii) driving approved potential acquirers to submit offers for clients' businesses.
  • Developing relationships with private equity funds, venture capital funds, family offices, and active trade buyers.
  • Assisting associates in preparation and revision of clients' marketing materials, primarily through requesting additional information from clients and assembling lists of potential acquirers.
  • Filing and keeping Benchmark International's networked customer resource management system up to date for all of the above.
  • Communicating effectively with clients by phone and electronic means to obtain client information and convey results of analysis.
  • Researching industries and M&A market segments.
  • Preparing reports of findings, illustrating data graphically and translating complex findings into written text. company overview Benchmark International is one of the world's leading merger and acquisitions specialists in the sale of mid-market companies. With offices throughout the world, we are in touch with all the major acquirers and consolidators who are constantly seeking both on and off market opportunities across all sectors. Our unique and dynamic international offering presents our clients with unparalleled global coverage, allowing them access through our exclusive databases and business intelligence facilities to both international markets and local representation. Our client base consists almost entirely of owners actively involved in businesses they founded decades earlier. At times, multiple family members are involved. Our clients seek either an opportunity to exit their business or the means to ensure its continued future growth. They look to our company to find both an acquirer with the right fit and a transaction that provides maximum value and the correct structure. As a result of the dynamics of this market, our bespoke process has been developed specifically to handle not only the business aspects of these transactions but also their personal and emotional components. We handle clients in any industry but a disproportionate share of the Tampa office's closings has involved companies in the healthcare and software developers' sectors. Closings have increased year-over-year with over 100 closings company-wide last year and the Tampa office crossing 30 in 2017 for the first time. Benchmark International began in the United Kingdom over a decade ago. Our Tampa headquarters opened in 2013 and continues to grow as our domestic client base and international buyer-contacts expand. We ventured into Texas January 2016. 2017 brought office openings in South Africa, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Our Nashville office opened in January 2018. We offer our clients a unique business proposition that has resonated well with the US market as it has with markets in other countries. Recognizing that the US M&A markets are the most robust in the world, particularly in this coveted middle-market range, we are planning to expand our US presence in the coming years. Coming onboard now presents you the opportunity to ride this wave of growth. Benchmark International promotes from within, and we look forward to bringing you onboard as the next generation of Benchmark International's leaders. Unfortunately, Benchmark International is not in a position to sponsor visas for candidates in its US offices at this time.

Keywords: Benchmark International, Nashville , Mergers & Acquisitions Outreach Analyst, Professions , Nashville, Tennessee