Why Some Deals Are Best Done In-House

摘要

When PPR, the French owner of Gucci, sold a stake in its African distributor CFAO in August, it didn't use an investment bank to handle the transaction. Instead, the company turned to an in-house mergers-and acquisitions-team led by a former France Telecom M&A executive. "When we can, we do it on our own," says group managing director Jean-Francois Palus.Worldwide deal volume has plunged 53 percent since 2007, a victim of the weak global recovery and the European debt crisis. With the average size of deals shrinking 25 percent in that time-to $149 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg-European companies such as BP and Siemens are relying on their own staffers for smaller transactions.