Advisory Role
Investment banks also play the role of advisor to companies. They are not consultants, but are more like facilitators. The advisory group in an investment bank is often termed M&A.
M&A stands for "mergers and acquisitions", which refers to the the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different firms. For example, if a company wants to sell of an unprofitable division, they will hire an investment bank to find a company that would want to buy it. Investment banks play a large role in facilitating M&A deals. The advisory group is charged with the task of helping buyers find sellers and vice versa, and then facilitating the deal.
Once the advisory group is hired by a company looking to sell itself to another, it will put together something called a pitch book. The pitch book contains all the relevant financial information about the company looking to get acquired. The investment bank then takes the pitch book to companies that it thinks might be interested in acquiring their client.
If the pitch is successful, the bank arranges the deal for the client. In order for the acquisition to take place, the two boards and leadership must be agree on the terms. This is often a very complex process because of the intricacies of the financial, functional, and organizational structures of both companies. There must be a plan for transferring everything from technology to debt to employees to titles, and the transaction must occur at a favorable price . If the negotiations are successful, the investment bank's client will be acquired.
Pricewaterhouse Cooper
Pricewaterhouse Cooper got it's name after the 1998 merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand.