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Principal, M&A
Overview
Contract: Permanent, full-time Location: London, St Pauls Department: Investment Office
About the Role
"As a Principal with an M&A background in the Investment office, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring our portfolio companies have the right processes, governance, and teams in place to originate and execute acquisitions. You will push and challenge these companies while aiding origination efforts and monitoring M&A progress to ensure adequate focus at the company level. Your extensive network across Europe will be critical to the success of this role."
Summary
Responsible for supporting portfolio companies in their inorganic growth strategies through:
- Developing efficient M&A origination processes and teams
- Identifying and executing high-value acquisition opportunities
- Collaborating closely with senior management and investment teams
- Driving value through stakeholder-focused deliverables
Geographic Scope: Focus on European and Mid-Market funds, currently managing ~50+ portfolio companies.
Reporting & Structure
Based in London, reporting directly to the Head of the Investment Office.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Process governance: Ensure portfolio companies implement optimal M&A frameworks and team structures
- Performance accountability: Challenge companies to refine origination and execution strategies
- Value alignment: Advocate for sustainable M&A focus within portfolio operations
Transaction Support
- Opportunity origination: Contribute to sourcing acquisition targets where beneficial
- Performance monitoring: Track M&A progress, identify bottlenecks, and escalate concerns
- Post-transaction integration: Bridge gaps between acquired and operating entities
Stakeholder Engagement
- Internal collaboration: Partner with investment teams and portfolio management
- External relationships: Forge deep connections with PE advisors, bankers, and counterparties across Europe
- Transparency & communication: Align stakeholders by sharing insights and strategies
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Key focus areas: Value creation through scale, improving portfolio diversification, and embedding M&A as a core growth generator.
Key Requirements
Industry Experience
Proven expertise in M&A within private equity environments (PE funds), corporates, or management buyouts. Expected credentials include:
- Deal execution: 8+ years facilitating end-to-end acquisitions (oversight or hands-on)
- Portfolio management: Experience where risk, timing and diversification are core priorities
- Source-to-close: Capability to influence valuation, due diligence, and integration
- Multi-jurisdictional laws: Experience draftinguate agreements compliant with European (franchise model preferred)
Congruuence & Mendacity
- Multilingual requirements: Native fluency in English + proficiency in at least one language among French, German, or Spanish (written and verbal)
- National qualifications: Permitted to work in the UK without agency endorsement
Technical & Functional Skills
- Financial modeling: Specialized training in merged venture value modeling, LBO valuations, or portfolio performance attribution
- Process mapping: Optimizing activities from sourcing until successful closing
- Computing: Confamiliarity with CRM systems, financial analytics tools (Excel-based models with VLOOKUP, multiple dashboards)
- Qualitative assessment: Quantitative portfolio effect analysis emphasizing suboptimal investor outcomes
Personal Attributes
Eligible candidates will exhibit:
- Keen driver: Self-starting individual with a track record of raising M&A to the priority list of CEOs or boards
- Tenacious problem-solving: Solution-obsessed with clarity of thought even under pressure
- Empire building: Satisfied by expanding deal opportunities for multiple businesses
- Cosmopolitan mindset: Quick learner of diverse corporate cultures across Europe, driven by agile thinking
- Team alignment: Ability to interface with different modes of negotiation (internal/ external) without destabilization within team dynamics
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Benefits
Our Global Benefits Framework
Guided by three core pillars:
-
Wellbeing
- Focus: Mental agility, physical fitness, and financial planning
- Offerings:
- Health interventions (physical and mental support programs)
- Wellbeing alliance plans for financial advisories
- Lifestyle inclusions (car share benefits, flexible Working Hours policies)
-
Inclusion
- Purpose: Tailored approach to inclusivity regardless of background, location, or contingency
- Commitments:
- Progress in diverse leadership avatar-based programmes -mit advancements with each hiring decision/reorganization
-
Longevity
- Theory: Long-term plan focus colliding with sustainability
- Deliverables:
- Long-signed offers with performance incentives
- Structured support that doesn't overlook outlet of training or information
Diversity & Belonging
Inclusion is fundamental to ICG’s operational excellence. Our workplace prioritizes:
- Safe spaces for complex nature conversations
- Access initiatives for candidates with diverse needs:
- Adjustments for disabilities
- Flexibility in design choices during recruitment
- Accommodations for candidates requiring other support
The Antibias Institute Approach
ICG commits to equal opportunity without a protective tether to protected characteristics such as:
Prohibited protected group:
- Disability, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, marital status
Production principals interface with a structured line to guarantee this unsupervised computationally similar interview emphasis.
Equal opportunity to all qualified applicants. We value diversity at all levels.
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