Yahoo Finance Jefferies Hires Ex-Citigroup Banker for Top EMEA Debt Job
(Bloomberg) -- Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has hired former Citigroup Inc. banker Simon Francis in a newly created role leading its debt financing business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, people familiar with the matter said.
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Francis, who held a similar role at Citigroup, is joining the US lender in London, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. He previously worked at Credit Suisse as a leveraged finance banker, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Jefferies is seeking to win higher market share from lending to financial sponsors and other corporate clients, a lucrative business that has seen more private capital providers challenge traditional investment banks in recent years. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., agreed last year to triple its holdings in the US bank, in a partnership that allows Jefferies to leverage the Japanese lender’s balance sheet for some of these transactions.
The moves come as Jefferies Chief Executive Officer Richard Handler hires aggressively from banks across Wall Street to build a franchise rivaling JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, among others. The bank has hired several senior executives including, Birger Berendes, one of Bank of America Crop.’s most-prominent rainmakers in Europe, and Citigroup’s Michael Borch, to help bolster its dealmaking business in the region.
A representative for Jefferies declined to comment. Francis left Citigroup earlier in 2024 after nearly seven years at the bank.
--With assistance from Fareed Sahloul.
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