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Merrill taps ex-Citigroup China banker Ren
2007-02-05
HONG KONG - Merrill Lynch has hired former Citigroup star banker Margaret Ren as a chairman of China investment banking, marking her return to the industry after a hiatus of more than two years. The appointment of Ren, who has close ties to Beijing through her father-in-law, former Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang, caps a saga that began when she was suspended by Citigroup in June 2004 over an inquiry into the $3.5 billion IPO of China Life Insurance Co. Ren left Citigroup soon after suspension and last year was cleared of any wrongdoing by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which had been looking into the December 2003 China Life offering in which she had played a key role. Ren declined to comment when reached by telephone. A Merrill spokesman confirmed her hiring but declined further comment. Seasoned Chinese investment bankers are at a premium as the country generated a record $1.3 billion in investment banking revenue last year, up 65 percent from 2005, according to market data firm Dealogic. Merrill, which was one of the banks that handled the record $21.9 billion IPO of top mainland lender Industrial & Commercial Bank of China last year, ranked fifth in China revenue in 2006, Dealogic said. Ren will begin at Merrill this week and report to Sheldon Trainor, head of Asia investment banking, and Erh-fei Liu, chairman of the China region. Besides the China Life deal, she worked on the landmark share sales of China Telecom and China Unicom , garnering a reputation as one of the mainland's most effective bankers. China banker movement has been especially active in the past few years as the country's emerging status as a global player has investment banks fighting for top talent to win deals. Ren's departure set off a round of banker musical chairs in China, with Citigroup hiring Credit Suisse's Wei Christianson as her replacement. Credit Suisse replaced Christianson with Zhang Liping from Merrill. Christianson lasted about a year with Citigroup, moving to Morgan Stanley in January 2006 after its top China banker, Jonathan Zhu, jumped to Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital LLC. (Additional reporting by Daisy Ku)
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