Citi announced yesterday that it has appointed Matthew Mrozinski as head of real estate banking for Asia. Mrozinski will be based in Hong Kong and responsible for origination, execution and coordination of the global products platform for the firm's real estate clients.
Mrozinski has extensive experience in the region, having been part of Deutsche Bank's Asia (ex-Japan) real estate business since 2006 where he contributed to building and managing a team of 10. His last role at the firm was as head of the team.
While at Deutsche, he was involved in several key transactions, including Wynn Macau's $1.6 billion IPO, Greentown China's $400 million high-yield bond tender and the $838 million acquisition of 20% of Galaxy Entertainment by Permira Partners.
He previously held roles with Colony Capital Asia, J.P. Morgan Securities and TD Securities (USA).
For Citi, this is a new position. Previously, real estate coverage within its global banking division was handled by the country coverage teams across the region.
"We are excited to welcome Matthew to Citi and look forward to his leadership and further build out of this important and fast-growing sector for Citi in Asia-Pacific," Farhan Faruqui, Citi's head of global banking for Asia, said in an internal memo.
Citi has been building on its real estate coverage this year, with efforts that include leading a $350 million high-yield real estate bond for Kaisa Holdings, a $120 million high-yield bond for Fantasia Holdings, a $143 million follow-on for Macquarie DDR Trust and a $130 million follow-on for Frasers Centrepoint in Singapore.
Also joining Citi in its M&A global banking team is Douglas Farrell, as a director in M&A, based in Hong Kong. Farrell was previously with the bank's Asia-Pacific M&A team at Nomura/Lehman, working in both Australia and more recently in Hong Kong. With more than 10 years of experience in the industry, Farrell has a track record in a broad range of M&A and strategic advisory assignments, with a particular focus on fixed income, industrials, financial enterprises and cross-border M&A deals into and out of non-Japan Asia. Douglas will report to Colin Banfield, Citi's Asia-Pacific M&A global banking head, who recently joined from Nomura where he was co-head of investment banking for Asia ex- Japan.
Citi also announced this week that Chris Laskowski will be returning to Asia to run the bank's financial enterprises group within the global banking team and act as COO for global banking, reporting to Faruqui.
"These additions to the team in Asia-Pacific underline our commitment to continue to invest in the best talent to support our clients," Faruqui said in a written comment. "They also clearly demonstrate that we are committed to building and strengthening our franchise in Asia-Pacific by adding additional high-quality talent across the region to support our own growth and expansion."
