Length of the Request For Proposal (RFP) and Weightings

Written submissions (or slides supporting an oral presentation) must be comprehensive while remaining concise in number and, above all, relevant. Left to their own devices, investment banks will often recycle marketing materials from pitch to pitch, a significant proportion of which may not immediately relate to the transaction that is being contemplated. Hundreds of pages are not uncommon, especially when the banks are trying to impress prospective clients and to over-enthusiastically communicate their dedication and commitment. Such ‘tomes’ are actually expected by some issuers and their shareholders as a proof of hard work on the part of likely lead banks. As an equity capital markets banker, I recall that pitching for privatization equity offerings in South Korea, for example, necessarily involved ‘telephone book’ pitch books in both the English and Korean language — which were invariably recycled from RFP to RFP. I strongly suspect that most of these pitches — except perhaps the pages where the fees were quoted — were probably never read as part of the selection process. Quality rather than quantity, however, is what really should matter most in a proper RFP procedure.