Inside the biggest deal of 2020 - Year-end IPO frenzy - How to get hired in private equity

Happy Saturday!

We're just a few days in, but December is shaping up to be a busy one.

This week, S&P Global announced it plans to buy IHS Markit in a $44 billion all-stock deal. And Macquarie said it's set to buy Waddell & Reed for $1.7 billion, and plans to sell Waddell's wealth-management business to LPL Financial for some $300 million once that deal closes.

Plus, Wall Street has also been gearing up for a year-end IPO rush with big names including DoorDash and Airbnb slated for public debuts in the coming week.

Keep reading for a look inside the S&P Global-IHS Markit deal, a rundown of what analysts say are the next asset-manager acquisition targets, and a roundup of how Wall Street comp pools are looking after a year of blowout trading revenues.

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How to get hired in private equity

This week, Business Insider's Wall Street reporter Reed Alexander spoke with Matt Breitfelder, the global head of human capital at Apollo Global Management; Sara Diniz, vice president in human resources at Bain Capital; James Cherubim, head of talent acquisition at The Carlyle Group; and Anthony Keizner, co-managing partner at Odyssey Search Partners.

Among some of the topics that the four experts addressed:

• • What it's like to go through the interview process at their firm.
  • What kinds of modeling exams to expect and the quantitative skills you'll need to demonstrate.
  • How to stand out as someone who could become a future star PE dealmaker and investor.

WATCH NOW: 4 private-equity recruiting execs from top firms like the Carlyle Group, Apollo, and Bain Capital break down how to land a job in the ultra competitive PE world

Inside S&P Global's $44 billion deal for IHS Markit

From Reed Alexander and Dan DeFrancesco:

Virtual dealmaking has become de rigueur in 2020, but when $44 billion is on the line, video calls can't always replace in-person meetings.

When S&P Global and IHS Markit were closing in on getting a deal over the line, their respective execs agreed that a private, in-person meeting would help both firms' top brass foster the trust and goodwill to push the transaction forward, two sources told Business Insider.

S&P Global's $44 billion all-stock deal to buy IHS Markit, the largest acquisition of 2020, was given a push when the firms' CEOs - S&P's Douglas Peterson, and IHS Markit's Lance Uggla, accompanied by their respective deal-teams - met face-to-face in a rented boardroom in Connecticut, according to one source familiar with the situation. The meeting, which took place this fall, included precautionary measures from both parties in light of the coronavirus pandemic, both sources said.

While the magnitude of the deal certainly complicates things, the fact it was an all-stock transaction makes it even more tricky. Instead of simply handing over cash, shareholders on both sides of the deal are tied to each other after the fact because of the use of company stock as currency.

You can read more details on how the mega-deal came together here.

$30 billion Lone Pine - the Tiger Cub with big stakes in Shopify, Facebook, and Microsoft - is reaping huge gains in 2020

From Bradley Saacks:

Lone Pine - the $30 billion Tiger Cub headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut - has soared in 2020.

The equity manager has returned more than 23% in its flagship long-short fund after gaining roughly 1.6% last month, sources say. Its long-only fund though has been the real star of its offerings - the fund is up more than 38% for the year after returning nearly 11% in November.

The discreet manager - founded by Stephen Mandel Jr. and now run by the team of Mala Gaonkar, Kelly Granat, and David Craver - has fueled its run this year with the success of its biggest position, according to the firm's most recent regulatory filing: Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify.

As of the end of September, the retailer made up more than 7% of Lone Pine's portfolio, filings show, and Shopify has continued to skyrocket in price; since the start of the year, the company's stock has more than doubled. The firm also boasts large stakes in Facebook and Microsoft, both of which have risen at least 35% this year.

You can read the full story here.

Wall Street bonus season is looking up

From Dakin Campbell and Reed Alexander:

Annual total compensation for Wall Street's fixed-income, currencies, and commodities groups are expected to grow for the first time in four years, a dramatic reversal for a class of Wall Street traders who have had several lean years, according to data in a recent survey.

FICC groups may see total compensation, including base salary and bonus, increase by more than 9% compared with 2019, according to a new survey conducted by Options Group, a recruiting and consulting firm for the financial-services industry. That bump would be the first year-over-year increase of the FICC bonus pools since 2016, according to the survey.

See more Wall Street compensation expectations here.

Credit Suisse names 4 firms as likely deal targets after a fresh wave of asset management M&A - and pinpoints possible buyers

From Rebecca Ungarino:

On the heels of yet another major investment management combination, a new report sheds light on where analysts think the next deal for wealth and asset managers could strike.

"Asset manager M&A wave will continue with a variety of potential transactions," analysts at Credit Suisse led by Craig Siegenthaler wrote to clients on Thursday.

The evening before, Australia-based Macquarie Group said it would acquire investment manager Waddell & Reed.

Macquarie is set to buy the Overland Park, Kansas-based firm for $1.7 billion, or $2.3 billion Australian dollars, and is set to sell Waddell's wealth management business to major independent US broker-dealer LPL Financial for some $300 million once that deal closes.

The plans to acquire Waddell, the parent company of Ivy Investments, which Business Insider previously reported could be sold off, has analysts wondering which firm could be next.

See the full list here.

David Boies just outlined a leadership shuffle at his elite litigation firm after a top lawyer overseeing a big restructuring jumped ship

From Casey Sullivan and Jack Newsham:

Once in charge of overseeing a firm-wide restructuring and re-imagining of Boies Schiller following a series of high-profile exits, attorney Nicholas Gravante has decided to exit himself and is joining the law firm of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft.

The news marks the latest sign of troubles at the firm founded by the prominent trial lawyer, David Boies.

Boies Schiller staffed 350 lawyers at its peak and has experienced dozens of partner departures this year. Today the firm lists 207 attorneys on its website and it has recently sought to sublet part or all of its glamorous New York City office.

Many of the firm's exits have stemmed from internal friction over the divvying of compensation, as well as transparency into finances generally, but attorneys have also wrestled with public criticisms of Boies following his representations of Harvey Weinstein and Elizabeth Holmes.

Gravante was one of the two leaders, alongside Natasha Harrison, tasked with revamping pay for both partners and associates, and setting the strategic vision of the firm. His exit was met with surprise by lawyers who have left the firm, who pondered what the future now held for the 23-year-old litigation powerhouse.

You can read the full story here.

Meet 2020's rising stars of real estate, the young visionaries making waves at big-name firms like CBRE and Compass and industry-shaking startups

The pandemic has upended the real-estate industry, forcing offices and shops to reinvent themselves and causing millions of Americans to relocate or reconsider their home bases for work, financial, or personal reasons.

Against this backdrop, we're spotlighting professionals who are thriving, seizing opportunities despite, or because of, COVID-19's effects on commercial and residential real estate in the US.

You can see the full list here.

Legal

• Here's how 4 litigation financiers are thinking about data and analytics - and why some players think it's an industry prime for disruption
• A top banking lawyer who just joined Blackstone's board is moving to the powerhouse law firm Kirkland & Ellis
• How to stand out during Morgan Lewis's individually-tailored virtual interview process, according to the Big Law firm's recruiting manager

Hedge funds

• A former Citadel and BlueMountain portfolio manager has landed herself a new job running global credit at one of Canada's biggest hedge funds

IPOs and deals

• DoorDash just refiled its IPO paperwork, updating a key chart on customer retention that had puzzled experts
• Deloitte just snapped up a software firm as it looks to stay ahead of its Big 4 rivals on cloud computing consulting
• Legal software company Exterro just bought a forensics data firm in a deal that could massively speed up the time it takes for lawyers to decide to act on a case

Fintech

• Amount, a startup that's taking a SaaS approach to selling digital-banking tech, just nabbed $81 million from Goldman Sachs and other backers
• Teen-focused bank Step just raised a $50 million Series B that included TikTok megastar Charli D'Amelio. Its CEO explains why influencers are critical to the startup's marketing strategy.
• Fakespot, a startup that helps shoppers detect robot-generated reviews and phony sellers on Amazon and Shopify, used this pitch deck to nab a $4 million Series A
• This banking-as-a-service fintech helping businesses embed payments tech into their apps just raised a $27 million Series A led Andreessen Horowitz