JPMorgan Chase, a bank that has worked on some of the year’s biggest mergers and acquisitions, has named two new heads of that business.
Hernan Cristerna and Chris Ventresca were named co-heads of the global mergers and acquisitions practice, in newly created roles, according to an internal memorandum reviewed by DealBook. They will report to Jeff Urwin, the global head of investment banking.
“Our refined M.&A. structure marks an important milestone for our global advisory business, and allows us to align and fully leverage the talent and experience of our M.&A. bankers,†Mr. Urwin said in the memorandum, the contents of which were confirmed by a JPMorgan spokeswoman.
Mr. Ventresca, a 25-year veteran of JPMorgan, was most recently head of mergers and acquisitions in North America. He led transactions including Virgin Media‘s sale to Liberty Global in February and Dollar Thrifty’s sale to Hertz last year, according to the memorandum.
Mr. Cristerna, as head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, led some prominent cross-border deals, including the blockbuster acquisition by the Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev of Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser. He has been with the bank for 20 years.
JPMorgan has flexed its deal-making muscle over the last few months. The investment bank advised Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital on their $23 billion deal for H. J. Heinz, for example. So far this year, the bank is No. 2 among merger advisers worldwide, working on nearly $162 billion worth of announced deals, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Bank of America Merrill Lynch is currently in the top spot.)
The appointments come after a period of changes among JPMorgan’s top ranks. In January, James E. Staley, the former head of the investment bank, left to join a hedge fund.
Last year, Mr. Urwin, the investment banking head, moved to Hong Kong and gained additional duties as chief executive of Asia-Pacific operations.
