Goldman Sachs’ Lemkau And Pozzi Take New M&A Roles

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Gregg Lemkau and Gilberto Pozzi of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) were appointed by the bank to take new responsibilities in its merger and acquisitions (M&A) unit.

Goldman Sachs' Lemkau And Pozzi Take New M&A Roles

Lemkau, who previously served as head of M&A for Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia at Goldman Sachs was promoted to become co-head of the bank’s M&A. Gilberto Pozzi replaced Lemkau in his previous position as head of M&A in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In an internal memo to its employees, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) said Lemkau will work hand-in-hand with Gene Sykes in leading its global mergers and acquisitions division.  A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the promotions of the Lemkau and Pozzi, according to report from Bloomberg.

Prior to his job in the M&A unit of Goldman Sachs, Lemkau served as co-head of the bank’s global technology, media, and telecom group. He provided his advise on various transactions including the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion and the $16.5 billion purchase agreement between Medimmune, L.L.C. and AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE:AZN).

According to Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs’ decision to promote Lemkau was part of their strategy to shift the management of the firm to younger executives who became senior partners after the bank went public in 1999.  Before its IPO, 15 of its current members in the executive committee became partners.

Lemkau was part of the 78-member partnership class within the bank, which include William Dudley, currently serving as president of Federal Bank of New York and Carsten Kengeter, head of the investment bank of UBS AG (NYSE:UBS), and Harvey Schwarts, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs. Lemkau became a partner in October 2002.

In an interview with Bloomberg last December, Lemkau described the outlook for 2013 as, “cautious optimism” citing that 2012 ended with a slow growth but with a sense of momentum this year. He said some of the factors driving the momentum are prevalent such as significant cash balances on corporate balance sheets, historically low cost of capital, relatively limited organic growth opportunities, and relatively low equity values.

On the other hand, Pozzie, who currently serves as the head of global consumers retail group of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) will continue his responsibilities in overseeing some of the existing clients of the bank while managing transactions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Pozzi provided advise in the acquisition agreement between Unilever N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:UN) and Kalina consumer group and the deal between Mittal and Arcelor.

According to Goldman Sachs, Francois-Xavier de Mallmann will replace Pozzi as co-head of global consumer retail group. He will manage the unit together with Kathy Elsesser.

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