Meet the investment banking dealmakers working on a $275 billion mega merger
The deal could be valued at as much as $100 billion, and if successful would be the biggest takeover this year.
That is great news for Wall Street.
Both Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller have reached out to a handful of advisers at investments banks large and small, and the fees are likely to be hefty if the deal goes ahead.
Consultant Freeman & Co. estimates that if a formal bid of around $100 billion materializes, advisory fees for those working with the bidder - AB InBev - would be between $95 million and $115 million.
Advisers to SABMiller would be in line for between $100 million and $120 million.
So who's getting all the work?
Lazard is the lead advisor to Anheuser-Busch InBev. Three banks are advising SABMiller: JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and, notably, Robey Warshaw, a 3-year-old, 9-person advisory boutique.
Here's what we know so far about which bankers are on the deal:
Lazard
Alexander Hecker
Hecker is co-head of consumer and retail investment banking at independent investment bank Lazard.
He worked on the InBev-Anheuser Busch deal in 2008 in addition to the more recent Warren Buffett/3G Capital acquisition of Heinz. He has also previously worked on AB InBev's acquisition of Grupo Modelo, and AmBev's acquisition of Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana.
Hecker has a history of working with 3G Capital, the Brazilian private equity giant behind AB InBev. He also worked with the firm to take Burger King and Playboy Industries private.
Robey Warshaw
Simon Robey
Robey co-heads the London-based boutique with Simon Warshaw. Before founding his boutique advisory firm three years ago, he was head of UK investment banking and co-head of global mergers and acquisitions at Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley.
In addition to being a star dealmaker, he's also a professional standard singer, according to Financial News. He's chairman of the Royal Opera House board.
Simon Warshaw
Warshaw was the head of investment banking at UBS before joining Robey to form their boutique advisory firm.
He also worked on another giant transaction involving a US company and a UK-listed firm, working with Vodafone on the sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless to Verizon. That deal was valued at $130 billion.
JPMorgan
John Muncey
Muncey is head of JPMorgan's corporate finance team in the UK. He joined the bank from UBS. He was a managing director in the European consumer team at that bank.
Muncey has a history of expertise in the liquor and beverage industry: according to the FT, his clients include liquor giant Diageo and UK brewer Scottish & Newcastle, in addition to Cadbury Schweppes, Kraft, and Germany's Tchibo.
Dwayne Lysaght
Lysaght is JPMorgan's head of UK mergers and acquisition.
He has worked on a number of deals involving North American buyers and UK targets. He advised UK insurer Brit on its sale to Canadian peer Fairfax earlier this year, and previously worked with AbbVie on its aborted deal with UK pharmaceutical company Shire.
Morgan Stanley
Henry Stewart
Stewart runs UK and Irish investment banking for Morgan Stanley. He is a specialist in the consumer sector, and is a long time adviser to SABMiller.
Paul Baker
Baker is an old school British banker who heads corporate broking for Morgan Stanley. He assumed that role in 2004. Corporate broking is a practice unique to the UK, where public companies name one or more companies as retained advisers.
