M&A Auctions Analyst – North America – 7754

ION Analytics, parent of the Mergermarket platform, is looking for a seasoned researcher and detective-at-heart with M&A experience to add to our growing Auctions team which tracks pre-deal market activity. 

Some of the most coveted information on the Street is intelligence on sale processes. If you’re an analyst or financial journalist interested in transforming how dealmakers consume auction intel without being on the front lines, this is the hybrid opportunity for you.  

The Auctions team is responsible for the creation of Missing in Auction (MIA) reports which track active sale processes that have not generated announced deals. They are among the highest read content on Mergermarket and are consumed by top dealmakers at banks, private equity firms, and advisory shops around the globe. 

In this role, you would be responsible for drafting and researching MIAs. 

This involves digging through our repository of active auctions and verifying through in-depth diligence that these processes have not yielded a transaction. In addition, every situation on the report requires a write up of any company actions that could be seen as tangentially supportive or detracting from the possibility of a deal. These include tracking management changes; acquisitions or divestitures by the buyer/seller; and dividend recapitalizations.

This process will take you down research rabbit holes. It requires a mind predisposed to scrutinizing semantics of public statements, press reports, blogs and company filings. Do you spot the change in word choices an executive made when discussing a company’s strategic review from earnings call to earnings call?

We’re looking for someone that is passionate about uncovering what others may have missed in a sea of information overload. It is for the person that can’t turn away from one more Google search because the “what ifs” and “how abouts” are natural to your thought process. You are a stickler for semantics of the English language.

In addition to authoring MIAs, this is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a transformational deal-tracking and origination tool that will revolutionize how the market assesses pre-deal activity.

This role allows for a strong work/life balance as it can be done largely remotely and is bound to repeatable, quarterly deadlines. It’s a reading comprehension and research marathon that can be adapted to your pace. 

Write and research at least three quarterly MIA reports 

Review and revise other MIA reports produced by colleagues

Define criteria for directional company actions that should be included in MIA reports

Communicate, educate and discuss protocols with Auctions team 

Assist with auction monitoring and diligence between MIA publications

M&A research experience, preferably in investment banking, private equity or hedge funds

Former M&A journalists interested in research 

Solid understanding of an M&A auction process and other deal techniques

Exceptional search skills on platforms including Google + Factiva 

Master of English language semantics 

Ability to synthesize complex themes 

Self motivated and comfortable/prefers to work independently 

Additional languages a plus

We’re a diverse group of visionary innovators who provide trading and workflow automation software, high-value analytics, and strategic consulting to corporations, central banks, financial institutions, and governments. More than 40% of the world’s largest companies use our solutions. Founded in 1999, we’ve achieved tremendous growth by bringing together some of the best and most successful financial technology companies in the world.  

Over 2,000 of the world’s leading corporations, including 50% of the Fortune 500 and 30% of the world’s central banks, trust ION solutions to manage their cash, in-house banking, commodity supply chain, trading and risk. 

Over 800 of the world’s leading banks and broker-dealers use our electronic trading platforms to operate the world’s financial market infrastructure. 

With 10,000 employees and offices in more than 40 cities around the globe, ION is a rapidly expanding and dynamic group. 

Within ION Analytics we help clients find advantage in a world of information overload and fragmented systems.  Our business information solutions blend expert journalism and analytics with data to help banks, advisors, investors, law firms and corporations find opportunities in markets ranging from equities and fixed income to infrastructure and private equity. 

On our platform clients can break through silos to originate opportunities, find buyers, and use resources efficiently, and our advanced workflow automation tools cut through the noise to deliver personalized, targeted information that saves time and effort, and drives better decisions. 

At ION, we offer careers that provide many opportunities: To invent. To design. To collaborate. To build. To transform businesses and empower people around the world to do more, faster and better than before. Imagine what you can do and experience. This is where you can do your best work.