The veteran deal bankers have moved on and there’s a new pecking order with US banks and credit funds staking their position in Europe’s leveraged finance market. Legal Business assesses the debt professionals that lawyers want on their speed dial.
‘The crisis hit and Paul de Rome, who was then head of leveraged finance at Citibank, said: “You’ve got to shoot someone – I’ll fall on my sword – take me down.” It was a pure sign of class I thought. He was 50. He’d made his money, and was letting the young ones keep their jobs. Looking back I realise the reason Paul was such a successful old dog was because he knew it was just the first stage of the crisis. When he got shot, all his shares vested and he’s currently a partner in private equity firm EQT, which is THE place to move to.’
