By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Cary Kochman, one of Citigroup (NYSE:C)'s top dealmakers, is retiring after spending nearly 14 years at the helm of the Wall Street bank's mergers and acquisitions group, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
Kevin Cox, who earlier this year took over as the interim head of global M&A, will continue in that role, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the matter is confidential. Citi announced Kochman's retirement in an internal memo earlier on Thursday, the sources added.
A Citi spokesperson declined to comment.
Kochman, a three-decade investment banking veteran who was based out of Citi's Chicago office, joined the bank from UBS in 2011.
He started out as the co-head of North America M&A at Citi before being appointed as the co-head of the bank's global M&A franchise alongside Mark Shafir, another veteran investment banker who stepped down from the role last year. Prior to his stints at Citi and UBS, Kochman worked at Credit Suisse and First Boston Corporation, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Earlier this year, Citi formed an executive team of senior leaders from its corporate and investment bank, as part of the bank's renewed focus to capture a larger share of the lucrative deals market.
The investment banking unit is a key part of the third-largest U.S. lender's growth strategy. Citi's investment banking fees jumped 44%, helping it post revenue of $934 million in the third quarter due to strong debt and stock underwriting as well as higher fees earned from advising on M&A.
Citi has advised on a number of large transactions this year, including Mars' $36 billion takeover of Cheez-It and Pringles maker Kellanova. The bank ranks fourth on the list of financial advisers by value of deals worked on in 2024, according to LSEG data.