Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) — Australian billionaire James Packer persuaded Deutsche Bank AG’s co-head of corporate banking and securities, Robert Rankin, to run his family investment firm.
Rankin, an Australian, will leave his job in London in January to become chief executive officer of Consolidated Press Holdings Ltd., Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank said yesterday in a statement. A successor will be named “in due course,” the lender said.
“I see Rob as my partner going forward,” Packer, 47, said by telephone. “I’ve known Rob for a long time. He is someone I have great faith in and great trust in.”
Rankin, 51, has overseen the corporate finance unit, which houses the advisory arm, as well as debt and equity underwriting, since March 2012. Colin Fan, the other co-head of the investment bank, is responsible for its trading activities.
Packer, who has a net worth of about $5.2 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, will remain chairman of Sydney-based Consolidated Press Holdings. He was born into an Australian media dynasty started by his grandfather Frank Packer and expanded by his father Kerry Packer.
Since inheriting the family business at 38, James Packer has quit most of the media investments inherited from his father and expanded into casinos in an attempt to capitalize on Asian consumer spending.
Crown Entertainment
Packer plans to nominate Rankin as a director of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., the Chinese casino operator Packer controls with Lawrence Ho, according to the statement.
“I look forward to working with the bank as a client in the future,” Rankin said. Deutsche Bank co-CEOs Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen said in a statement they both “look forward to working with him as a client.”
Deutsche Bank hired Rankin, a former head of investment banking for Asia-Pacific at UBS AG, as CEO for the region excluding Japan in 2009. He was initially hired to improve the bank’s standing in advisory in Asia. At the time, the company ranked behind firms such as Zurich-based UBS.
Deutsche Bank said its share of the global corporate finance fee pool increased to 5.5 percent in the first nine months of 2014 from 5 percent in 2011.
–With assistance from Sarah Jones in London and Cathy Chan in Hong Kong.
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