Following Citi’s appointment of Tony Osmand to chairman of Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory (BCMA) for Australia and New Zealand, Citi has announced that head of corporate finance and advisory for Australia and New Zealand, Alex Cartel, will assume the role of head of BCMA.
In his new position, Osmand will advise clients and endeavour to support the BCMA leadership team in Australia and New Zealand, covering Citi’s corporate advisory, capital markets and lending business.
As a representation of Citi’s increasing presence in acquisitions and mergers, Osmand has led the Citi teams advising the Brookfield/Grok consortium on its proposed US$7.5 billion acquisition of AGL, Blackstone on its proposed US$9.8 billion acquisition of Crown and AusNet on its US$17.5 billion acquisition by the Brookfield consortium.
His team has also advised Boral on its response to the US$9.2 billion Seven West Media takeover and Woolworths on the US$12 billion demerger of Endeavour Group, all in the last 12 months.
Commenting on the appointments, Citi Australia and New Zealand CEO, Marc Luet, says: “These appointments are reflective of our continuous investment in our institutional business and our clients and will ensure we have the capacity to meet the increasing activity. I know Tony and Alex are both looking forward to their continued partnership leading the Australian and New Zealand BCMA business.
“Tony has led the BCMA business since 2012 and has created a positive, partnership-based workplace environment which has led to increased market share and revenues. In Australia, Citi is a leader in mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, debt capital markets and corporate banking and a trusted adviser to many companies, investors and government entities.“
Alex Cartel joined Citi in 2020 from Deutsche Bank, where he was managing director and head of investment banking coverage. Citi’s head of BCMA for Asia Pacific Jan Metzger says Cartel’s experience in leading transformational deals will ensure the continued growth and success of the business.
Metzger adds: “Alex is one of Australia’s most experienced and trusted M&A and ECM advisers and was recently reappointed as president of the Australian Takeovers Panel. He has led some of the country’s largest and most complex transactions and I am delighted that he has further expanded his role and congratulated Tony on his appointment as chair.
“Alex joined Citi in 2020 and has led the teams advising BHP on several successful transactions, including the US$86 billion unification of its dual listing, and led the advice to Santos on its US$16 billion merger with Oil Search. In that time Alex has also played key strategic advisory roles on other critical assignments for a range of clients, including Ausnet and Boral.”
At the time of the announcement, Citi is advising on the NZ$1.9 billion sale of Waste Management NZ to Igneo and is joint lead manager on the NZ$1.2 billion rights issue for Air New Zealand.
