The 30 rising dealmaking stars – but only one of them is a woman

A NEW ranking of London’s ‘rising star’ public market dealmakers includes only one women in its list of the capital’s top 30 youngsters.

The list, compiled by financial intelligence firm MergerLinks, is based on the size of deals and their perceived financial complexity.

Goldman Sachs’ Cara Pazdon is the only woman on the list.

The City has been home to a number of outsize deals over the past twelve months, in part due to the perceived cheapness of UK equities.

That perceived underpricing, which has been a marked feature of London’s listed markets since the vote to leave the European Union, has been exacerbated by the weakness of the pound – making UK-listed firms tempting takeover targets.

Amongst the bankers on the list are Citigroups’ Rory Scott for work on the purchase of Meggitt by Parker Hannifin, HSBC’s Alex Thomas for work on the merger of CapCo and Shaftesbury and JP Morgan’s Jonty Edwards.

Lawyers expect London’s dealmaking boom to continue despite ongoing economic uncertainty.

“Favourable exchange rates mean that UK targets are comparatively cheaper for US buyers, exacerbated by depressed valuations for certain UK businesses in the face of recessionary pressures,” Clifford Chance M&A partner Katherine Moir has previously told City A.M.

Corporate partner at law firm Eversheds Sutherland Jon Gill similarly said he expects to “see more such transactions in the months to come” as US private equity giants remain flush with cash and prices of tech firms in particular remain subdued.

UK firms are trading at around 10 times 2023 earnings, far lower than in the US. Firms including Morrisons, Stock Spirits and John Laing have all been picked up by private equity over the past two years, amongst a host of others.

The full list of MergerLinks’ 30 rising star dealmakers on listed markets

Bhavneet Alg is an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley’s UK M&A team. He recently worked on a £3.7bn purchase of Mediclinic by Remgro and MSC and a £98m minority acquisition of Stagecoach. Bhavneet graduated from University College London.

Richard Bassingthwaighte is a Director at Barclays, focusing on Equity Capital Markets. He recently advised Vistry Group on a £1.25bn purchase of Countryside Partnerships and several transactions on behalf of National Grid. Richard graduated from the Sydney University of Technology.

Thomas Bective is a Director in the UK Investment Banking team at Jefferies. He recently worked on the acquisition of the remaining stake in Pendragon for £303m and a £563m purchase of Arrow Global by TDR Capital. Thomas graduated from Durham University.

James Brodie is an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs UK Investment Banking team. In 2021 he worked on a £2.1bn Playtech acquisition and purchase of McCarthy & Stone for £647m by Lone Star. James graduated from Durham University.

Ben Deary is a Managing Director in Credit Suisse UK Investment Banking team. He recently worked on a £3.7bn purchase of Mediclinic and a £2.6bn acquisition of Ultra Electronics by Cobham in 2021. Ben graduated from Durham University.

Sandip Dhillon is Executive Director in the UBS’s UK Investemebt Banking team. He recently worked a £124m Elemental Royalties merger with Altus Strategies and the acquisition of Go-Ahead for £700m by Kinetic Holding and Globalvia Inversiones. Sandip graduated from Imperial College, London.

Jonty Edwards is an Executive Director in JP Morgan’s UK Corporate Finance and M&A team. He recently worked on £4.2bn Schneider Electric/AVEVA deal and a £1.75bn purchase of ContourGlobal by KKR. Jonty Edwards graduated from Durham University.

Oliver Elias is a Managing Director in Bank of America’s UK Investment Banking team. He has advised on a £1.2bn acquisition of Blue Prism by SS&C Technologies and a £6.3bn purchase of Meggitt by Parker Hannifin. Oliver Elias graduated from Oxford Univeristy.

Tariq Ennaji is a Director at Evercore. He advised on a £223m purchase of Countrywide by Connells Group and a £90m acquisition of Harwood Wealth Management Group by Carlyle. Tariq graduated from ESSEC Business School.

Pietro Franchi is a Director in the TMT team at Rothschild & Co. He has recently worked on a £524m acquisition of Huntsworth by CD&R and a £628m purchase of KCOM. Pietro graduated from Imperial College London.

Sam Green is Managing Director in the Real Estate team of Rothschild & Co. Sam has recently worked on a $364m purchase of McKay Securities by Workspace and on £190m Landsec’s acquisition of U+I. Sam graduated from Bristol University.

Simon Hollingsworth is a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank. He advised on Mccarthy & Stone acquisition by Lone Star Funds and the £668m Tarsus Group purchase by Charterhouse Capital. Simon graduated from Durham University.

Joshua Hughes is a Director in Numis Investment Banking team. He recently advised on a £4.2bn Schneider Electric/AVEVA deal and a £5bn purchase of Micro Focus International by OpenText. Joshua graduated from Durham University and Cass Business School.

Tom Hughes is a Director in Houlihan Lokey’s Oil & Gas team. He advised on a £3bn acquisition of Premier Oil by Chrysaor and Geopark’s acquisition of Amerisur Resources. Tom Hughes graduated from Exeter University.

Jamie Loughborough is a Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets at Numis Securities. He recently advised on the £4.2bn Schneider Electric acquisition of AVEVA and Marley’s acquisition by Marshalls. Jamie graduated from Bristol University.

Tom Macdonald is a Director at Barclays. He advised on Tullow Oil’s offer for Capricorn Energy and a £3.8bn offer for G4S by Allied Universal. In 2019 Tom engaged in the £4.8bn acquisition of Merlin Entertainment by KIRKBI, Blackstone and CPPIB. 

Benjamin Maiden is an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. He advised on a £673m Siris Capital Group’s acquisition of Equiniti Group, and AA’s take private by Warburg Pincus and Towerbrook Capital Partners. Benjamin graduated from Oxford University.

Alex Newman is a Director in Bank of America’s UK Investment Banking team. He recently worked on a £1.66bn acquisition of Euromoney by Astorg and Epiris, and a £1.2bn purchase of Blue Prism by SS&C Technologies. Alex Newman graduated from Oxford University.

Nicholas Page is a Managing Director at Lazard. He recently advised on a £3.8bn acquisition of G4S by Allied Universal and a £1.1bn purchase of TalkTalk by Toscafund and Penta. Nicholas graduated from Oxford University.

Aadhar Patel is an Executive Director and a Head of UK Real Estate and EMEA Leisure at UBS. He recently advised on a £3.7bn purchase of Mediclinic by Remgro and MSC and The British land Company on the sale of Paddington Central to GIC. Aadhar Patel graduated from Imperial College London and Oxford University.

Cara Pazdon is an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. She recently advised on the £2.1bn acquisition of Spire Healthcare by Ramsay HealthCare and the $2.1bn acquisition of Sanne Group by Apex. Cara graduated from Oxford University.

Henrik Persson is a Head of PLC Advisory who joined finnCap in 2009. He leads finnCap’s team focused on public takeovers, shareholder activism, and other specialist advisory situations. Henrik has recently worked on the acquisition of Firestone Diamonds by Pacific Road Capital and £80m MBO of Cambria Automobiles. Henrik graduated from Durham University.

Lewis Robinson is a Director at Gleacher Shacklock. He has advised on a £3.4bn acquisition of Signature Aviation and the acquisition of SDL for £854m by RWS Holdings. Lewis graduated from Durham University.

Rory Scott is a Director in Citigroup’s UK Investment Banking team. He recently advised on a £2.8bn acquisition of UDG Healthcare by CD&R, and a £6.3bn purchase of Meggitt by Parker Hannifin. Rory graduated from Cambridge University.

Milan Solanki is a Managing Director at Evercore, overseeing the European shareholder activism defense advisory. He recently advised on the acquisition of John Menzies by Agility Public Warehousing and a £1.4bn acquisition of Hastings Group by Sampo and Rand Merchant. Milan graduated from University College London.

Alex Thomas is a Managing Director in UK Investment Banking at HSBC. Recently worked on a £1.5bn merger of LXi REIT and Secure Income REIT and a £3.5bn merger of Capital & Counties Properties and Shaftesbury. Alex graduated from Eastbourne College.

Martin Weltman is a Director in Citigroup’s UK Investment Banking team. He advised on a £3bn acquisition of William Hill by Caesars Entertainment and a £1.4bn purchase of Calisen by a consortium of Private Equity firms. Martin graduated from Warwick University.

Tony White is a Managing Director in Jefferies’s UK Investment Banking team. He has recently advised on a £7bn acquisition of Morrisons and a £3.4bn purchase of Signature Aviation by GIP, Blackstone, and Cascade. Tony graduated from Cambridge University.

Ben Winstanley is a Director in Bank of America’s UK Investment Banking team. He has advised on Kistos Energy offer for Serica Energy, and a £524m acquisition of Huntsworth by CD&R. Ben Winstanley graduated from Cambridge University.

Christopher Wren is a Managing Director in Citigroup’s UK Investment Banking team. He recently advised on an £870m purchase of CareTech and £673m acquisition of Equiniti Group by Siris Capital.

About MergerLinks

MergerLinks is an online community for Corporate Finance professionals using data insights to connect investors and corporates with the most appropriate M&A experts. MergerLinks unique data covers over 200,000 M&A professionals while its content reaches over one million dealmakers monthly.

This list has been compiled by MergerLinks. The methodology and research is theirs.