Goldman Sachs's head of mergers and acquisition in Southeast Asia, Ruben Bhagobati, is leaving the US bank, along with Antoine Izard, its managing director in investment banking in Singapore, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Bhagobati, who joined the bank in 2007, was a managing director and relocated to Singapore in 2013 from Australia, where he was previously co-head of M&A.
The source said there are no immediate plans to replace Bhagobati or Izard, who are following Hsin Yue Yong out the door. Yong, Goldman Sachs’s erstwhile head of investment banking for Southeast Asia, left the firm in February to pursue other opportunities, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia. Yong had been with Goldman Sachs for 18 years.
Neither Bhagobati nor Izard could immediately be reached for comment.
Last year, Goldman Sachs advised clients on some landmark deals within Southeast Asia, such as OCBC's takeover of Wing Hang. It also advised Aabar on how to maximise its return on its investment in RHB while the Malaysian bank was in merger talks with peer CIMB.
But the US bank’s deal flow has been more skewed towards China.
On the M&A side, Goldman Sachs has also seen some internal movement. In June, it appointed Richard Campbell-Breeden chairman of its mergers and acquisitions group in Asia-Pacific ex-Japan. Campbell-Breeden was previously head of M&A for Asia ex-Japan.
John Kim, previously the bank's co-country head for Korea, assumed Campbell-Breeden's old role.
Goldman Sachs also still has a number of senior bankers in Singapore. Tim Leissner was named chairman of Southeast Asia last year and relocated to Singapore last year. He covers Yong’s old duties together with Singapore-based partners Michael Smith and Dan Swift as well as the other business unit leaders throughout the region.
