A 2004 Q&A from TheDeal.com with Shafir revealed that he always saw himself as less of a tech specialist and
more of a West Coast banking generalist.
And when questioned about whether we would continue to see big deals,
he said "I don't see any reason why they wouldn't continue, but I'm
also not one to get too far ahead of the curve on that kind of
prediction." Wise move. In April, speaking at a conference, he
predicted a 79% drop in LBO volume in 2008 from last year as well as a
decline of between 28% and 33% in strategic M&A volume. "We think
it will deteriorate somewhat going forward," he said of the market.
Shafir probably didn't think his
gloomy predictions of things to come would go this far.
Shafir
(pictured) bestowed good blessings upon Citigroup after leaving the
bankrupt Lehman: "Citi's M&A business is among the best on Wall
Street, and the firm's global capabilities, strong client relationships
and talented team position it for continued success."
Shafir,
who began his career in 1985 at Goldman, Sachs & Co., fills the
role vacated in June when Frank Yeary retired from the
firm to become a vice chancellor at the University of California,
Berkeley. He will report to Raymond J. McGuire and Alberto J. Verme,
co-heads of investment banking at Citi.
David
Kirshenbaum will serve as the personal adviser to M&A guru Shafir.
Kirshenbaum becomes deputy head of global M&A and will retain his
role as head of business selection. -
Baz HiralalCiti Appoints Mark Shafir Global Head of M&AGo to the story from the WSJ
Mark Shafir is taking the top dealmaker role at Citigroup Inc. Shafir is leaving Lehman Brothers Inc. to become head of global mergers and acquisitions at Citi's No. 2-ranked M&A franchise. He recently led Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s efforts to sell itself to Barclays, The Wall Street Journal's Heidi Moore said. The article noted Shafir's move to Lehman in 2003 surprised many on Wall Street as he tried to leave Thomas Weisel Partners in 2002 but the firm lured him back. For a little while anyway. He eventually became chairman and co-head of M&A at Lehman.
