I
Responsibility
A consultant supplies a recommendation. A broker supplies an introduction. Neither carries the outcome. A private mandate is a single instruction: to structure the transaction, reach the people with authority to agree it, conduct the negotiation, and carry it through to completion.
Strategy and execution are one engagement, not two. Nothing is handed back as a plan for others to attempt.
II
Where it applies
The common factor is neither sector nor geography. It is that the ordinary route is closed.
- Transactions requiring direct access to principals rather than their representatives.
- Contested and adversarial situations in which the parties have stopped speaking to one another.
- Negotiations requiring a principal at the table rather than an adviser behind one.
- Disposals and acquisitions with no natural market, and no intermediary willing to make one.
- Admissions, listings and approvals an institution cannot obtain unassisted.
- Matters where the right conversation already exists, but the introduction does not.
III
Terms
Engagement is by mandate, not retainer. Fees are structured within the transaction and contingent upon its completion. Nothing is charged for time, analysis or effort.
If the matter does not complete, there is no fee. The risk is therefore shared, which is why few mandates are accepted, and why those that are accepted are worked to the end.
IV
Suitability
A mandate is likely to fit where the value at stake justifies a contingent structure, where the decision rests with a principal rather than a committee, and where conventional efforts have already been made without result.
It will not fit where the requirement is advice, a market process, or volume.
V
Discretion
No client is named. No transaction is described. No engagement is announced, before or after.
Discretion and confidentiality are absolute, and they do not expire with the mandate. They are the condition on which the work is possible.