Bank of America has promoted two key dealmakers in Europe, as leaders at the Wall Street bank expect a rebound in M&A activity this year.
Lukas Poensgen has been promoted to head of M&A for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to a memo seen by Financial News, while Juan Vilarino Rumeu has been named head of its M&A team for Iberia.
Poensgen joined Bank of America 11 years ago from UBS as an analyst, while Vilarino Rumeu has worked at the Wall Street lender since 2010.
After two years in the doldrums, Eamon Brabazon, co-head of M&A in Emea at Bank of America, said he was expecting M&A to recover in 2024.
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“There definitely has been a step up in the new year in terms of activity. It’s not linear, though, and it never is linear. But we know dialogue is happening,” he told an FN roundtable in February.
The slump has prompted many banks to cut headcount, but senior bankers said that the worst of this was over.
“My personal belief is that people will be looking to clearly hold on to their teams,” Brabazon said during the roundtable. “That’s what we’re trying to do. And you know, as businesses expand, the more opportunity comes there will be more demand for people by definition because these businesses do tend to scale up in upturns.”
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