JGSOM hosts forum for M&A investment banking leaders

The John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) hosted a forum for industry leaders in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) space last 8 July.

AlphaPrimus Advisors Executive Director Calvin Chua (BS ME ’00), Executive Director Albert Lagtapon (BS ME ’03), Senior Analyst Brian Bacungan (BS ME ’06), and Senior Analyst John Borja (BS LM ’18) spoke to JGSOM students about their experiences originating and executing transformative M&A deals.

“The [investment banking] profession is deal-driven,” Lagtapon said to the students. “You’re always working on a deal, but it looks different day to day. When asked to describe the M&A process specifically, Lagtapon said that in layman’s terms, “I buy and sell companies for my clients.”

The panelists from AlphaPrimus Advisors highlighted three things about the investment banking profession—that it “facilitates the relationship between those that need capital and those who need it most”, is “about making things happen”, and is a “concrete way to participate in nation-building.”

Chua, Lagtapon, Bacungan, and Borja also provided career advice to JGSOM students looking to enter the investment banking field. They described investment bankers as “highly ambitious and conscientious, having a knack for crunching numbers, disciplined in the workplace, able to thrive in a high-pressure environment, and enjoy working on things that have big picture impact.”

“[As investment bankers], you execute from Day One. You learn 90% on the job. You’re always learning on the job,” Chua added.

AlphaPrimus Advisors is a deal advisor for Philippine and Philippines-based clients. The company was established in 2017 by a team of investment banking professionals with a combined 110 years of experience in investment banking, corporate banking, and M&A advisory. Since its establishment, members of AlphaPrimus have completed at least sixty transactions with a combined deal value of more than $35 billion. AlphaPrimus was recognized as Best M&A Adviser by The Asset in 2021 and 2022. They were also awarded Best M&A Deal for the Philippines in 2021 for facilitating GIC’s Php20 billion acquisition of a 17.5% stake in ACEN Corporation.