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Mergermarket European M&A Awards

TOP TIPS FOR WRITING YOUR EUROPE M&A AWARDS PITCH

If you’re asking yourself how to condense a year in deals into your 300 word pitch then look no further.


Getting Started:

To determine our financial and legal advisory shortlists, each firm that successfully makes the shortlist is invited to submit a 300-word pitch. A panel of M&A veterans will review these pitches, compare them with our league table data, and debate the deserving winners. To ensure local advisers are well represented, we also nominate the highest-ranked locally headquartered advisers to the shortlist.


What we Provide the Panel:

 During the judging process, the panel will receive the following M&A data:

  • Your league table ranking by both value and volume for the category 
  • The overall deal count and total transaction value for the firm for the category 
  • Your pitch, which needs to tell the story behind these numbers.
     

Crafting your Pitch:

The judges want to know why you deserve to win. An ideal pitch will demonstrate how you added value to deal processes, supported clients and offered creative solutions to complex situations.

 
Highlighting your Successes:

Your pitch may choose to highlight your successes across several different deals. All corporate and private equity transactions are captured by our shortlisting process and mandates to any party on the deal are valid – buyer, seller or target. Explain why these deals were so important and what you did as an adviser to get them across the line.
Sometimes, one deal says it all. If you worked on a landmark transaction and that single deal tells the story of your year, then make clear you have selected one example to highlight. The judges look for the direct contribution your firm made to the process, especially if you were a lead adviser.
 

What the judges are asked to ignore:

  • Any reference to non-Mergermarket awards and rankings
  • Deals that don’t meet our criteria for inclusion in Mergermarket’s database
  • Financing or underwriting on deals where you had no M&A mandate
  • Legal advice offered to financial advisers only
     

Additional Notes:

  • Pitches are confidential documents, however, please clearly mark any previously undisclosed information as “confidential”.
  • There’s no need for a presentation, illustrations or pitchbooks; just a single page will do fine.
  • The mid-market prize includes deals €30m to €1bn (or equivalent).
  • The European M&A Financial and Legal Advisor prizes are for deals over €5bn.
  • The Deal of the year award will be decided by public voting only 

Entries for private equity fund awards should be based on deals that have been exited. However, the deal size category should be determined by the entry value, not the exit value. Please categorise submissions according to the following entry value ranges: 

  • Small Cap: $0-50 million 
  • Lower Mid-Market: $50-250 million 
  • Mid-Market: $250-500 million 
  • Large Cap: $500 million+ 

Firms should focus on showcasing how they have created value and achieved successful exits, rather than emphasising the size of capital deployed. We are particularly interested in examples that demonstrate innovative strategies, operational improvements, and significant value creation between entry and exit. 


For any questions regarding your pitch, feel free to reach out to olivia.cummins@iongroup.com.

Submission details:

And don’t forget…if you make a pitch, you’re in with a chance of winning. The winners will be announced at the Mergermarket European M&A Awards on 27 November.