JPMorgan appoints new M&A leaders for PE-focused unit

The duo will lead the bank's strategic investor group.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has appointed global co-heads of mergers and acquisitions for its team catering to large private equity firms and other financial investors.

Haidee Lee and Carsten Woehrn will co-lead M&A for the bank’s strategic investor group, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News. The group, which has about 20 bankers, has executed more than 200 deals for buyout firms, infrastructure funds, sovereign wealth funds, alternative asset managers and others.

JPMorgan recently named Woehrn, who joined the bank in 2000, as the co-head of its M&A business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, following a reshuffle of its leadership in the region. Lee joined the bank in 2021 to lead sponsor M&A business for North America.

Woehrn and Lee will report to Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan’s global head of mergers and acquisitions, according to the memo. A representative for JPMorgan confirmed the contents of the memo.

Private equity deal activity, which has been hard hit this year by higher interest rates and valuation concerns, is showing signs of recovering as firms slowly begin to deploy their record levels of capital. CVC Capital Partners is in the early stages of considering a potential bid for European payments firm Nexi SpA, Bloomberg News reported last week. Meanwhile, Blackstone Inc. and Permira are weighing a takeover of classifieds company Adevinta AS in what would be one of the year’s biggest buyouts.