In 2018, the bank ranked as the world’s top adviser on mergers and acquisitions, helped in part by a strategy of courting smaller clients and buyout firms. While its average deal value has decreased since 2015, it stayed ahead by handling more transactions.
William Blair, founded in 1935, offers a range of services including investment banking, private wealth management and research, according to its website. Harris Williams specializes in advisory work and capital-markets services for midsize companies. PNC acquired it in 2005.
That Goldman would even consider buying a smaller investment bank would have been almost unthinkable in the recent past. Now, senior management has shown itself more willing to shed the firm’s big-business mystique to scrounge for new sources of revenue.
It’s also a sign of how far Wall Street banks have come since the dark days of 2008 as fears about too-big-to-fail enterprises give way to optimism and new tie-ups. Just this week, Morgan Stanley announced its biggest takeover since the financial crisis.
This article provided by Bloomberg News.