Goldman Names Sorrell, Gutman as U.K. Investment Bank Heads

May 20, 2011, 1:00 PM EDT By Ambereen Choudhury and Gavin Finch

(Adds Goldman Sachs transactions in final paragraph.)

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. promoted Mark Sorrell and Anthony Gutman to become co-heads of its U.K. investment banking unit, succeeding Julian Metherell.

Sorrell, 37, and Gutman, 36, were formerly co-chief operating officers of U.K. investment banking, Richard Gnodde, co-chief executive officer of the firm’s European unit, said in an internal memo to employees. The contents were confirmed by a spokeswoman in London today.

They will replace Metherell, who left Goldman Sachs this month to join former BP Plc CEO Tony Hayward’s planned 1 billion-pound ($1.6 billion) energy-investment fund. Sorrell, the son of WPP Group Plc CEO Martin Sorrell, joined Goldman Sachs in 1994 and was a former head of the European natural resources group. Gutman joined from Citigroup Inc. in 2007 as a managing director advising companies in the retail industry.

Goldman Sachs is revamping the leadership of its investment banking unit after the firm lagged behind JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley in advisory revenue during the first quarter. The firm this week named Gnodde, 51, co-head of its investment banking division, which includes mergers and acquisitions as well as stock and bond underwriting, alongside David M. Solomon and John S. Weinberg. The unit generated $1.27 billion in first- quarter revenue, less than 11 percent of the firm’s total.

The firm is the top-ranked adviser on mergers and acquisitions this year both globally and in the U.K., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The New York-based bank helped to advise Anglo American Plc on combining its U.K. building material operations with those of Lafarge SA in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The firm also advised money manager Gartmore Group Ltd. on its acquisition by Henderson Group Plc for about 335.3 million pounds in April.

--Editor: Edward Evans, Steve Bailey.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ambereen Choudhury in London at achoudhury@bloomberg.net; Gavin Finch at gfinch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net

View the original article here