Harris Williams was founded in Richmond, Virginia in 1991 and is now owned by PNC, a large US bank. It does one thing and does it a lot: sell-side M&A for middle-market companies, very often owned by private equity funds.
What that's like as an analyst
Sell-side work means you're helping an owner sell. That involves a lot of preparation: the information memorandum, the financial model, the list of buyers, managing the process. Because Harris Williams does so many of these, analysts get through a lot of deals, which is excellent training and a common route into private equity.
Most of its analysts are in the US. It also has offices in Europe, including London.
On the CV
- Anything that looks like running a process: organising an event with many suppliers, managing a society's sponsorship drive, coordinating a team.
- Modelling you can explain.
- Clear, careful writing. Analysts draft long documents.