Orcel heralds Novelli as he returns to UBS
ANDREA Orcel, the newly appointed head of investment banking at UBS, has made his first significant hire, bringing deal-maker Piero Novelli back to the bank.
Novelli, whose past clients include Gas Natural Fenosa, Repsol, Enel, Renault, ABB, Siemens, GM, Ford, Cisco and HP, left the Japanese bank Nomura at the end of last year by mutual consent.
Orcel announced the news internally yesterday. In a memo sent around UBS, he said: “In line with our commitment to continuously improve the value we add to our clients, I am delighted to announce that Piero Novelli has today rejoined UBS as chairman of global M&A, reporting to me.”
Novelli was until recently global co-head of M&A at Nomura. Prior to this he was global head of M&A at UBS between 2004 and 2008/9 after joining from Merrill Lynch in 2004 where he held the position of head of European M&A.
Orcel is trying to bolster certain parts of the investment bank, mainly those that rely on client relationships, while shrinking other parts such as its fixed income trading business.
Nomura is struggling to make an impression in equity-based investment banking, although it does occasionally finish in the top ten in the industry M&A league tables.