BofA Hires Ex-Citi Energy Banker
Appointment comes in wake of defections by other energy bankers.
July 1, 2009
Alan Murray will join Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a New York-based managing director in its energy corporate and investment banking practice in late September. He was formerly global head of energy M&A at Citigroup.
Murray will report to Scott Van Bergh, head of energy corporate and investment banking for the Americas.
"With over 25 years of extensive transaction experience, clients look to Alan as a trusted strategic advisor based on his considerable investment banking acumen and expertise as an engineer," Van Bergh said in a press release. "He will be a valuable addition to our team and underscores our commitment to this dynamic industry sector."
Murray's past M&A assignments have involved advising Norsk Hydro ASA on its $2.5 billion purchase of Spinnaker Exploration Co. in 2005. In addition, he advised on China National Petroleum Co.'s $4.2 billion purchase of PetroKazakhstan in 2005, which is China's largest cross-border energy deal. Murray also worked with Royal Dutch Shell on a series of multi-billion dollar acquisitions from 2001-2006.
Last year, he worked on the establishment of joint ventures between British Gas and Centrica, and Veba and Deminex.
Murray joined Citi via the firm's 2000 acquisition of British investment bank Schroders, where he was head of the European oil and gas group in London and later became co-head of the global energy team. He began his career at British Gas, where he worked in the project analysis and process engineering departments.
Murray's addition is a boost for BofA Merrill, which lost some key energy bankers after the merger between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch closed. These departures came during a mad dash by investment banks to bulk up their presence in the energy and power field (see related story).
On June 3, Greenhill & Co. announced it hired ex-BofA Merrill energy dealmakers Christopher Mize -- who had been co-head of BofA Merrill's Americas energy and power group -- and Aaron Hoover to open its Houston office. Six days earlier, Evercore Partners publicized the retention of Robert Pacha, formerly the head of BofA Merrill's midstream energy and MLP team, as a senior managing director charged with launching its Houston office and leading its midstream energy practice.
In March, Credit Suisse announced it hired Jonathan Grundy, who had been global head of energy and power investment banking at Merrill Lynch, as head of its energy practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Grundy will begin his new role in Credit Suisse's London office this month.
Last month, Parker Weil, co-head of Americas energy and power banking at BofA Merrill, told IDD that, despite the defections from his group, "We are always looking to add talented people to our team, and will grow our business opportunistically to capture attractive new business opportunities."
BofA Merrill's other recent appointments include Junichi Shiroshita (formerly a Bain Capital managing director) as a managing director on its Japanese investment banking team. The firm also hired Steven Niemczyk as global head of asset management investment banking from UBS, where he held the same position.
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