Citigroup appoints two heads for UK and Ireland

London — Citigroup has appointed new co-heads of banking, capital markets and advisory in the UK and Ireland as part of a broader shake-up of leadership at the division.

James Fleming and Jan Skarbek will run the team and replace Michael Lavelle, who recently took up the role of chairperson of Europe, Middle East and Africa capital markets at the bank, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

Citigroup has also named Andrew Seaton as chairperson of BCMA for the UK and Ireland. Seaton most recently led the bank’s corporate broking business.

As part of the changes, Andrew Truscott will become sole head of UK investment banking at Citigroup, while Peter Brown will take up the position of head of UK corporate broking. A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the contents of the memo.

The US bank plans to continue to add talent and deploy capital to its team of merger & acquisitions (M&A) and capital markets bankers in the UK and Ireland, Skarbek said in an interview.

While many UK companies are trading at lower valuations relative to their listed rivals globally, this has not made deal-making easier. Investors are still pushing for higher bid prices that they believe reflect a fair split of the maximum value of assets to buyers, according to Skarbek.

“Doing public M&A has become harder, but it’s still extremely busy,” he said.

Citigroup ranks third as an adviser to deals in the UK and Ireland in 2021, having worked on transactions valued at about $61bn, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The bank advised Aggreko, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of portable power generators, on its $3bn-plus takeover by TDR Capital and I Squared Capital. It is working with buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on its pursuit of UDG Healthcare.

For initial public offerings on UK and Ireland exchanges, Citigroup places seventh, the data show. It landed roles on the high-profile listings of Deliveroo and Moonpig Group.

Bloomberg