SocGen, Daiwa Secs, others see gap in European M&A

By Quentin Webb

LONDON (Reuters) - A clutch of banks with previously limited reach in European takeovers and other corporate advisory work are betting now is a good time to grab market share -- before the dealmaking business recovers.

There are experienced bankers on the job market at bargain prices after the bloodletting of the financial crisis, while others who survived the culls are restless, recruiters say.

Advisory businesses, like the one Japanese banks bought in Britain on Monday, offer institutions the prospect of lucrative fees and follow-on work without gobbling up precious capital.

But the latecomers may find they are chasing a limited pool of deals, competing with both better-established rivals and with newly emboldened boutiques fresh from their own hiring sprees.

On Monday, Societe Generale said it had hired Thierry d'Argent, JPMorgan's former head of French M&A, as one of the top managers of its strengthened M&A team.

The French bank aims to add 20 senior bankers and about 15 M&A specialists. It is a powerhouse in areas such as equity derivatives but ranks 18th in European M&A this year with $8.8 billion of announced deals, according to Thomson Reuters data.

COMPETITION

The overall data point to how tough competition might be, however, even as boutiques such as Centerview Partners, Moelis & Co, and Qatalyst expand or open London offices.