Investment Banks Seek Business in Patent Deals as M&A Work Slows

Amid the dearth of global mergers and acquisitions, a handful of investment banks are finding business advising companies on patent sales.

Lazard Ltd., Evercore Partners Inc. and Barclays Plc are banking on a turf typically dominated by lawyers. While global mergers and acquisitions volume is down 27 percent so far this year, patent deals have jumped in the past 12 months to $18.8 billion from $450 million the year before, according to calculations based on data compiled by Bloomberg. The competition among Apple Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc. to dominate the wireless market largely accounts for the rise.