Rothschild & Co is launching a corporate finance arm in Switzerland, recruiting a prominent J.P. Morgan investment banker for the push, finews.com can exclusively reveal.
Paris-based Rothschild is one of Europe’s leading corporate finance advisors, and behind notable recent deals such as Bayer's $66 million merger with Monsanto and Luxottica's 47 billion euro tie-up with Essilor.
The investment bank has also been active in Switzerland – Rothschild advised on the 50 billion Swiss francs Lafarge-Holcim mega-merger, for example – but typically handled Swiss deals out of Frankfurt.
Rothschild tops a league table compiled by Dealogic on number of deals advised in Europe in the first two quarters, and is in the top-five of volume of deals.
J.P. Morgan Hire
Now, Rothschild has poached Vincent Thiebaud (pictured below), J.P. Morgan’s head of corporate finance in Switzerland, a source familiar with the matter told finews.com. He will lead a new Swiss unit of Rothschild Global Advisory, or RGA, the person said.
A spokesman for Rothschild confirmed that the bank is setting up the unit, but didn't comment on any further details.
Thiebaud is a familiar face on the Swiss deal scene, having previously worked for Credit Suisse and before that Deutsche Bank.
Martin Reitz will become chairman of RGA in Switzerland. He has been the boss of Rothschild’s investment banking activities in the German-language area of Europe since 2009.
Corporate Focus
A source familiar with the matter said Rothschild’s focus in Switzerland would be mergers and acquisitions, equity advisory, and advice on debt and restructuring – near-identical to how it works out of Paris or Frankfurt.
The unit, set to open as soon as August, will be based in Zurich and aims to cover all of Switzerland. It is likely to operate independently of Rothschild's private bank, also headquartered in Zurich and led by Goldman Sachs wealth management alum Laurent Gagnebin.
