J.P. Morgan strengthens M&A team

J.P. Morgan has promoted Rob Sivitilli to a newly created role as head of M&A for Asia (excluding Japan and Australia). The bank meanwhile has hired Lian Lian from Citi as co-head of M&A for North Asia.

Sivitilli previously held the position of J.P. Morgan’s head of M&A and corporate finance for Southeast Asia, a role he will retain in his new position.

In his new role, Sivitilli will be responsible for M&A business development and execution across some of the fastest-growing markets in the Asia region. In addition to management responsibility for the emerging Asia team, Sivitilli will work with his M&A counterparts in Australia and Japan to help coordinate the bank’s activities across the region and worldwide.

In his 16-year career at J.P. Morgan, Sivitilli worked as part of both industry and product teams in North America before relocating to Asia in 2010. He will continue to be based in Singapore.

Lian will jointly head the M&A team for North Asia with Sanjeev Malkani. She will be based in Hong Kong and report to Sivitilli.

Lian will focus on building the bank’s M&A business in China, working closely with regional and global partners to provide strategic cross-border M&A advice, enhance the quality of the bank’s M&A coverage and increase the firm’s global connectivity.

Lian brings solid China M&A experience and strong client relationships to J.P. Morgan, the bank said. In her six years at Citi, she was a managing director and worked on numerous significant China M&A transactions in the natural resources and general industry sectors. Prior to that, Lian spent more than five years at CICC with a strong focus on M&A execution.

J.P. Morgan said the appointments reflect its continued focus on growth markets.