(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. has appointed Darren Novak and Alfredo Porretti to help run its shareholder engagement and mergers and acquisitions capital markets team globally, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg.
Novak and Porretti will become global heads of the unit, which advises companies under attack from activist investors, alongside existing leader David Freedman. All three will report to Anu Aiyengar, head of global M&A at the bank.
A representative for JPMorgan confirmed the contents of the memo.
London-based Novak, who leads the unit in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, joined the US bank in 2021 after a stint at UBS Group AG, according to his LinkedIn profile. Porretti, who runs the business in North America, also joined in 2021, having previously worked at Greenhill & Co., Morgan Stanley and Lazard Inc.
JPMorgan recently advised Walt Disney Co. on its proxy battle with activist Nelson Peltz. It also defended closed-end funds run by BlackRock Inc. against Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital Management and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. against Elliott Investment Management.
Porretti told Bloomberg in an interview published earlier this month that he expects it to be a busy summer for shareholder engagement bankers, with situations developing in sectors like health care, technology and industrials.
(Adds details of Porretti interview in final paragraph.)
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