Citigroup Inc. has hired the chief executive officer of Hoare Govett, a London corporate broking unit of ABN Amro Holding NV, and four senior bankers from the unit to help win more British clients.
In the United Kingdom, corporate broking firms offer advisory services similar to those provided here by investment banks but are retained on a more formal basis.
Nigel Mills, the Hoare Govett CEO, will be the chairman of Citigroup's U.K. corporate broking business. He will arrive in September, as will Andrew Chapman, Tom Reid, Andrew Thompson, and Chris Zeal, who will be managing directors and report to David James, the head of corporate broking.
The executives help companies comply with stock market rules and act as go-betweens with investors. They often bring in assignments such as underwriting stock sales or advising on mergers.
U.S. securities firms "were getting fed up of being excluded and trying to compete their way past the broker," said Simon Maughan, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London. "In the end they've just said, 'OK, we'll hire the guys."'
JPMorgan Chase formed a joint venture with Cazenove Group Ltd., the United Kingdom's oldest independent broker, in February. Morgan Stanley has hired two senior U.K. bankers from JPMorgan Cazenove in the last two weeks; it recruited 11 brokers from other firms last year.
Citigroup, the world's largest banking company, ranks ninth so far this year in advising on takeovers involving a U.K. company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. JPMorgan Chase is first and Morgan Stanley second.
Citi is also ninth in equity offerings by U.K. companies. UBS AG and Merrill Lynch & Co. lead in that business.
Hoare Govett has more than 100 U.K. broking clients. Twenty-five of them, including GlaxoSmithKline PLC and J Sainsbury PLC, are in the FTSE 100 index.
ABN Amro, which bought Hoare Govett in 1992, has lost top bankers this year while focusing more on structured products and derivatives.
