James C. Woolery, the co-head of North American mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase, said on Sunday that he was leaving the bank after two years to become deputy chairman of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. In his new job, Mr. Woolery, who joined JPMorgan following 17 years at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, is a potential successor to the current chairman of Cadwalader, W. Christopher White, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced reports. His departure from JPMorgan leaves Chris Ventresca as sole head of the North American mergers division.
Mr. Woolery said he became convinced that Cadwalader “really had a desire to go in a direction I’d wanted to go.†After laying off scores of lawyers as its practice of advising on complex debt offerings dried up, the 221-year-old Cadwalader is looking to move further into the top rank of advisers on corporate and regulatory matters, rather than try to compete with firms that offer a “supermarket†model. In his career as an investment banker, Mr. Woolery worked on AT&T’s attempted takeover of T-Mobile USA and the $24.4 billion proposed buyout of Dell.
“Mr. Woolery’s decision to try his hand at banking marked him as one of a handful of top deal lawyers to do so,†Mr. de la Merced writes.
MINDFUL OF BUBBLES AS DEAL-MAKING REVIVES  | The recent spate of deals has come as the stock market hits record levels. That would seem to contradict the investing adage of “buy low and sell high,†James B. Stewart writes in his column for The New York Times. “You always see a lot of M.&A. activity when the market is overvalued,†said Matthew Rhodes-Kr! opf, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. “Of course, you only know a market peak with benefit of hindsight. But when you look back, you’ll see a lot of M.&A. activity.â€
The safest deals may come at the start of a boom. Early in the merger cycle, “You typically buy companies that are in the same industry or where there’s a fit,†said Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive of the Blackstone Group. “As you get further along in an economic expansion, confidence gets higher and higher, and people start buying almost anything that they think has prospects.â€
So what is behind the enthusiasm “The simple answer may be that chief executives and corporate boards don’t seem to be any better at detecting market peaks than anyone else,†Mr. Stewart writes. “They also experience the same psychological factors that afflict nearly all investors caught up in a bubble.â€
WARBY PARKER ADDS PROINENT INVESTORS  | Millard S. Drexler, the chief executive of J. Crew, and American Express joined the latest round of financing for the eyeglass seller Warby Parker, which closed at $41.5 million last month, Mr. de la Merced reports. The new investors underscore the growing popularity of the three-year-old Warby Parker, whose backers include General Catalyst Partners, Spark Capital, Tiger Global Management, Thrive Capital and Menlo Ventures. “We’ve tried to be very deliberate in getting people with specific expertise,†Neil Blumenthal, one of Warby Parker’s founders, said in an interview. “Nobody knows retail like Mickey. And within financial services, nobody knows a brand more prominent than American Express.â€
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â
FALL OF THE BANKING HOUSE OF SIENA  | Over its 541-year history, the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena has been a mainstay of the city where it is based, backing charities and civic works. But the bank, known as “Babbo Monte,†“has been brought to its knees by 21st-century finance,†The New York Times’s Jack Ewing and Gaia Pianigiani report.
The chairman, Alssandro Profumo, a prominent banking executive who once led UniCredit, said Monte dei Paschi was undone in part by its dealings with large international banks like JPMorgan Chase. “Clearly, many investment banks made a lot of money on Monte dei Paschi,†he said. “I would say too much money.†The bank’s troubles have political ramifications, becoming an issue in the Italian elections held on Sunday and Monday.
Knight Capital Said to Be Selling Unit to Stifel Financial  | The Knight Capital Group, which agreed to be purchased by Getco, “plans to sell its credit-brokerage unit to Stifel Fi! nancial C! orp., according to six people with knowledge of the matter,†Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Royalty Pharma Proposes to Buy Elan for $6.6 Billion  | Reuters reports: “Investment firm Royalty Pharma has made a $6.6 billion bid approach to Elan, seeking to scupper the Irish drug maker’s plan to spend most of the proceeds from a major drug sale on deals and instead give the money to shareholders.†REUTERS
Barnes & Noble Founder Said to Offer to Buy Bookstore Unit
Barnes & Noble Takes a Hard Look at E-Reader Business  | “A person familiar with Barnes & Nobles’s strategy acknowledged that this quarter, which includes holiday sales, has caused executives to realize the company must move away from its program to engineer and build its own devices and focus more on licensing its content to other device makers,†The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Chief of Pearson Says Financial Times Is Not for Sale  |Â
REUTERS
After Heinz Deal, Other Food Companies Could Be Takeover Targets  | Many big food companies have strong profitability and staying power, so mergers could offer good values for the right merger candidate, Quentin Webb of Reuters Breakingviews writes. DealBook Â'
Banks’ Relationship With Payday Lenders Under Scrutiny  | With major banks allowing Internet-based payday lenders to withdraw payments automatically from borrowers’ accounts, the “Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are examining banks’ roles in the online loans, according to several people with direct knowledge of the matter,†The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
American Banks Turn to Europe’s Commercial Property Market  | Banks including Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Wells Fargo “are looking to capitalize on a dearth of financing for Europe’s commercial property market thatâ€! ™s driven! lending margins to five times the level prior to the 2008 crisis,†Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Citigroup Pay Plan Raises the Bar Just a Bit  | Under the new plan, the bank’s target for return on assets is still being set too low, Antony Currie of Reuters Breakingviews writes. DealBook Â'
Goldman Looking to Reduce Office Space in Tokyo  |Â
BLOOMBERG NEWS
BlackRock Wins Approval for Fund Backed by Copper  |Â
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Tax Treatment of Carried Interest in the Spotlight  | “Eliminating the carried-interest tax rate should be an easy sell. It should play to Republicans’ supposed hatred of government handouts and to Democrats’ commitment to social justice,†Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the chief executive of E.L. Rothschild, writes in an Op-Ed essay in The New York Times. NEW YORK TIMES
In Dell’s Waning Cash Flows, Signs of Concern  | Going private may allow the company to slash costs, which preserves cash. But management may also feel liberated to spend more on initiatives, which could deplete cash initially. DealBook Â'
Is the Dell Buyout Proposal Too Cheap  | “Some investors wonder†if Michael S. Dell “might have a hot new product on the drawing board that has the potential to make the company a highflier again,†Gretchen Morgenson writes in The New York Times. NEW YORK TIMES
K.K.R. Founders Get Pay Raises  |Â
WALL STREET JOURNAL
What Went Wrong at J.C. Penney  | Ron Johnson, the chief executive of J.C. Penney, who had a track record of innovation at Apple, “ignored conventional industry wisdom and moved too abruptly to impose practices inspired by his time at Apple â€" a very different type of retail animal,†The Wall Street Journal writes, citing unidentified people close to the company. WALL STREET JOURNAL
New Allocations to Hedge Funds Expected to Triple in 2013 Â |Â
BLOOMBERG NEWS
R.B.S. Said to Plan I.P.O. of U.S. Unit  | Royal Bank of Scotland is set to announce this week that “it plans a partial sale of its U.S. bank Citizens this year or next, a source close to the matter said,†Reuters reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
UMW of Malaysia Said to Hire Bankers for I.P.O. of Unit  |Â
WALL STREET JOURNAL
AirWatch, Device Management Company, Attracts $200 Million  | Insight Venture Partners led a $200 million financing round in AirWatch, an enterprise business that helps companies manage the various mobile devices their employees use. TECHCRUNCH
New Leader to Be Named for Bank of Japan  | “A financial policy expert and harsh critic of the Bank of Japan’s efforts to combat deflation is set to be the government’s choice to take over the nation’s central bank,†The New York Times reports. “The official, Haruhiko Kuroda, a veteran of global financial circles and current head of the Asian Development Bank, will be nominated as the bank’s governor to take over next month, according to a ruling party lawmaker with knowledge of those plans.†NEW YORK TIMES
Judge Upholds S.E.C. Freeze on Account Tied to Suspicious Heinz Trades  | The hearing did nothing to illuminate the identity of the suspect trader, a mystery confounding regulators and complicating the case. No one appeared in court on Friday to represent or! defend th! e traders. DealBook Â'
In Push for Transparency, Law Firm Releases Financial Results  | In a groundbreaking move, K&L Gates, one of the country’s largest law firms, disclosed its financial results online, as clients are asking more questions about the financial state of the firms they employ. DealBook Â'
Political Risks Seen in Wind-Down of Fed’s Stimulus  | When the Fed eventually wraps up its economic stimulus program, the possibility of losses on assets combined with payments to the banking industry “sounds like a ecipe for political problems,†said James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Consumer Complaints May Offer Insight Into Pyramid Schemes  | Regulators have given no indication of what they think about Herbalife’s business practices. But complaints against the company may offer some insight into the government’s assessment. DealBook Â'
A Disappointing Mortgage Settlement  | After striking a deal a year ago over foreclosure abuses, “banks are structur! ing the d! ebt relief in ways designed to tidy up their balance sheets, rather than to keep as many people from losing their homes as possible,†The New York Times editorial board writes. NEW YORK TIMES
