By Pamela Barbaglia and Gwénaëlle Barzic
LONDON (Reuters) -Ex-Rothschild banker Grégoire Heuzé has quit the Paris office of Centerview, seven months after joining as a partner at the U.S. investment banking boutique, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Heuzé is well-known in France's close-knit financial circles after 15 years at Rothschild, where he advised on some of the country's biggest transactions including the 40 billion euro ($46 billion) merger of cement makers Lafarge and Holcim (SIX:HOLN).
He left Rothschild in December 2020 and began at Centerview in March, working closely with French dealmaker Matthieu Pigasse who launched Centerview's operations in Paris last year.
Centerview confirmed that Heuzé, who was not immediately available for comment, was leaving.
Heuzé joined Centerview to support the development of its activities in Continental Europe. He was one of three Paris-based partners along with Pigasse and former Lazard banker Nicolas Constant.
But differences over strategy had led to his departure, the source said.
Although Heuzé is now focusing on a new entrepreneurial project, Centerview has offered him an agreement to continue working with the firm, a second source said.
Centerview has been hiring over the past year to beef up its global operations both in Paris and New York, where it poached three senior tech bankers from Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
Investment banks are benefiting from a boom in global M&A activity as companies and investors are shaping their post-COVID future through dealmaking.
Global M&A activity in the first nine months of 2021 reached a record of $4.33 trillion, leading investment banks to expand their teams and hike pay for junior staff.
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