Raphaël Roch-Chardet (SKEMA 2006), M&A Club Ambassador

Could you briefly tell us about your career since graduating from SKEMA Business School and what motivated you to become an ambassador for the M&A Club?

Since graduating from SKEMA in 2006, I've built my career around the transactional and M&A component. After starting my career in M&A at Société Générale, where I did my gap year, I joined the Investment Banking team at Barclays Capital. I then moved to the "other side", joining the Corporate Development teams at Natixis. On the strength of this 6-year experience in the FIG sector, I returned to the advisory side in 2016, joining the FIG M&A teams at JP Morgan in Paris and then Lazard in 2019.

With a rich 20-year career behind me, which I haven't really seen pass me by, I'm very enthusiastic about sharing the lessons of this journey with the SKEMA community, and making my experience available in a humble attempt to enlighten and, if I can, guide the new generation.

How do you plan to energize and enliven the M&A Club of which you are the ambassador? Could you share a few ideas for events or initiatives you'd like to set up?

As well as providing valuable feedback, I'd like these events to be an opportunity to discuss topical issues (economic, geopolitical or even transactional), and to assess together the impact these may have on medium- to long-term trends in the M&A market. Club members will benefit from real insights into the world of M&A, enabling them to "step back" and take a more mature view of the impact of current events on our industry.

This can take the form of thematic discussions, or a focus on a recent case study whose lessons seem particularly relevant to a particular sector or industry... I'm sure that in this fast-moving and ever-changing world, with everyone's involvement and curiosity, we won't be short of topics for discussion!

What message would you like to pass on to our alumni to encourage them to join and get actively involved in the M&A Club?

The Club is a unique opportunity to broaden your knowledge, meet industry professionals and find resources by confronting business issues. The club is a great way to build your network and get support from your peers to develop your career.

The club's success is based on active sharing, and can only be achieved collectively; it requires the involvement of both alumni and students to ensure prolific exchanges.