We examine the economic rationale for the use of investment banking syndicates in mergers and acquisitions. We find that syndicates are more likely to be hired in more complex transactions and in deals where acquirers have greater demand for external acquisition-related financing. Compared to...

This paper examines the value added role of industry specialist advisors in M&A transactions using the Additive Revealed Comparative Advantage (ARCA) index to proxy advisors' relative level of industry specialization prior to deal announcement. After controlling for endogeneity, we find that...