Keith Magnus joins top management body at Evercore

Singapore

STAR investment banker Keith Magnus has been appointed to the global management committee of independent investment banking advisory firm Evercore - one of the rare instances of a Singaporean having made it to the big leagues of a global bank.

The global management committee is said to be the highest decision-making body in the firm, just below the board.

The 46-year-old is the current co-chairman of Asia business and senior managing director at Evercore. He is credited for building Evercore's Singapore office from scratch back in 2013 and growing its presence in the region.

The Business Times understands that Evercore's elite management committee comprises several of its global head honchos and is co-chaired by Wall Street titans Ralph Schlosstein, Evercore president and CEO, who was the co-founder and president of Blackrock for almost 20 years; and John Weinberg, the firm's executive chairman, formerly co-head of global investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

Mr Magnus, son of retired chief district judge Richard Magnus, has personally advised billionaires, blue chip companies and funds on their most important transactions amounting to over S$40 billion in the past four years alone.

One of the recent Evercore-advised deals included private equity firm KKR's investment in massage chair and lifestyle products group V3, the owner of the OSIM and TWG Tea brands, of up to S$500 million. Another is speciality chemicals distributor Tee Hai Chem's 51 per cent stake sale to German chemical distribution giant Brenntag for a sum estimated at S$200-300 million.

Prior to joining Evercore, Mr Magnus was the chairman and head of UBS's investment bank in Singapore and Malaysia. He also had stints at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase.

In 2018, Evercore's net revenue hit US$2.08 billion, with the bulk of it coming from its global advisory business. The firm, founded by Blackstone and US Treasury veteran Roger Altman, has advised on over US$3 trillion worth of transactions and has 28 offices spanning the globe. It is ranked among the top firms in the world providing investment banking advice.

In Asia, the firm won the title of Best M&A Adviser in Singapore for three consecutive years at the Asset Triple Awards in 2015, 2016 and 2017.