Greenhill hires debt restructuring star Gareth Davies from Close Brothers
GARETH Davies, one of the star debt restructuring specialists at Close Brothers Corporate Finance, has quit the firm just months after its takeover by Daiwa Securities.
Davies, who advised Jarvis on its restructuring as well as Foxtons and the now defunct television group Setanta, quit Close at the beginning of the week. He has been hired by Greenhill, where he will be one of six restructuring partners.
Davies immediately left Close and will now go on gardening leave until January.
Chief executive Stephen Aulesbrook said Davies had been “a good performer for the bank in difficult times and good times.” “We’ll still stay good friends but I’ve warned him I’ll break his leg if he tries to take the team with him!” he said.
Aulesbrook said the Daiwa connection was “a force for stability”, denying that some employees at the 200-strong firm found the new ownership problematic. “We have been hiring people since the transaction,” he said, citing the recruitment of Jonathan Tyler from Houlihan Lokey and John Paul McGrath from Rothschild as illustrations of the firm’s ambition.
Aulesbrook said that Close was working on a rebranding exercise that will give the UK business a large amount of autonomy. “We’re looking to choose a brand that will reinforce our operational independence.”