UPDATE 1-Deutsche Bank revamps M&A with new global roles
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FRANKFURT, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) restructured its mergers advisory business on Wednesday, appointing dealmaking veterans Tony Burgess and James Stynes to newly created global co-head roles.
The German bank, which has lagged rivals on merger advice but gained some ground in recent years, said the changes correlate with what companies seeking advice want.
"Clients today are looking across borders to make key strategic M&A decisions and need a global view and expertise to enable them to make informed decisions," Deutsche Bank's head of global banking Michael Cohrs said.
Burgess also noted that dealflow involving China and India is on the rise, which requires greater global coordination.
"We're seeing much more investment into Europe and the United States from Asia, and vice-versa, and this is likely to be a trend we'll see accelerate over the next five years," he said in an interview.
The bank is building a dedicated Asia-Pacific M&A group and is developing a plan to advise private equity firms in the region.
Deutsche Bank ranked ninth globally on the list of top M&A advisers last year -- sixth in Europe and just missing the top 10 in the United States, according to market research firm Thomson Financial.
LONG WAY
Burgess said, however, that Deutsche Bank has come a long way over the last few years.
"We have taken our M&A fee share in Europe from 4 percent in 2004 to 7 percent in 2006," he said.
Burgess had been head of European M&A since October 2004 and Stynes his counterpart in the Americas since September 2004.
Their new roles are effective immediately and both men will report to Cohrs.
Also as part of the shake-up, Henrik Aslaksen, head of M&A for continental Europe, and Stephan Leithner, head of German investment banking, are becoming the bank's co-heads of M&A in Europe. Jean Manas will be head of M&A in the Americas. Continued...
