Sam Farnham to lead Americas M&A team; Kristin Lesher to lead Middle Market Investment Banking; industry veterans building on the success of the franchise
The mergers & acquisitions (M&A) business in the Investment Banking &
Capital Markets Group (IBCM) is one of the fastest growing segments
across Wells
Fargo Securities. In order to continue building on that success, the
organization has made significant senior appointments to their advisory
team to enhance their abilities to serve customers.
David DeNunzio has joined as head of the Global M&A group. Together with
Sam Farnham, an IBCM veteran and head of M&A for the Americas, they will
lead the advisory business, reporting to Rob Engel, head of the Investment
Banking & Capital Markets Group. DeNunzio is based in New York
with Farnham based in Charlotte.
“We have seen tremendous growth in our M&A business as clients
increasingly seek strategic advice to enhance the value of their
businesses,” said Engel. “Our recent successes have included advising
Verizon in its purchase of Fleetmatics and Telogis, TransCanada on its
acquisition of Columbia Pipeline Group and Krispy Kreme on its sale to
JAB Beech. We will look to leverage David and Sam’s expertise and
leadership to build and deepen client relationships.”
Engel added, “David brings with him depth of experience that spans 35
years in investment banking and all aspects of financial advisory work.
Coupled with Sam’s breadth of knowledge across the Wells Fargo platform
and the domestic and North American M&A markets, we can bring another
level of advisory solutions and intellectual capital to our clients,
while growing our M&A business in a thoughtful and disciplined manner.”
Prior to joining Wells Fargo, DeNunzio was global chairman of Credit
Suisse's Mergers & Acquisitions group, where he was employed for the
last 27 years. He has extensive experience in all aspects of financial
advisory services, including divestitures, buyer advisory services,
mergers, recapitalizations, and takeover defense. He was also a senior
vice president at Kidder, Peabody & Co. Incorporated.
As a 20-year veteran of Wells Fargo and its predecessor companies,
Farnham has extensive experience in M&A with an expertise in the
consumer and retail sector. He most recently served as the head of Middle
Market Investment Banking Group, where he led the origination and
execution efforts for middle market companies and financial sponsors,
providing strategic advice and capital markets services. Prior to that
role, he spent 13 years in the M&A group, serving in senior roles such
as head of Consumer and Retail M&A.
In addition to DeNunzio and Farnham’s appointments, Kristin Lesher has
been promoted to lead the Middle Market Investment Banking Group, the
position formerly held by Farnham. In her prior role, she led the
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region for the Middle Market Investment
Banking group. Lesher has had nearly a 20-year career at Wells Fargo
Securities and its predecessor firms, originating and executing a broad
range of M&A transactions including buy-side, sell-side and joint
venture assignments, as well as equity and debt financings.
About Wells Fargo Securities
Wells Fargo Securities delivers a comprehensive set of capital markets
products and services, including public debt and equity origination and
distribution, investment research, interest rate, commodity and equity
risk hedging, mergers and acquisitions advice, prime services,
structured lending facilities and municipal bond origination. The
institutional capital markets business is comprised of more than 4,200
team members in 50+ locations across the U.S., Europe and Asia.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based
financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852
and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking,
insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance
through more than 8,600 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet
(wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries and
territories to support customers who conduct business in the global
economy. With approximately 268,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one
in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was
ranked No. 27 on Fortune’s 2016 rankings of America’s largest
corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’
financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo
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Fargo Stories.