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Ex-Lehman Banker Taps French Connection on FCA-Renault

Ex-Lehman Banker Taps French Connection on FCA-Renault

(Bloomberg) -- Business acumen, the right schools and political connections paid off for a French-led advisory boutique, which landed a role on a proposed corporate combination that stands to shake up the global car industry.

Benoit d’Angelin, the 57-year-old who founded the namesake firm in 2016 in London, is advising Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in its bid to merge with France’s Renault, a deal the two sides announced on May 27.

What his firm may lack in size, d’Angelin makes up in connections within the French political and business establishment, burnished by his role as an early supporter of investment banker-come-French President Emmanuel Macron. He also has deal expertise, having co-founded boutique Ondra Partners in 2008 and helping run the European investment bank of Lehman Brothers Holdings until 2006, two years before its collapse.

The proposed tie-up of Fiat Chrysler and Renault sent a jolt across an industry desperate to scale up amid an expensive shift to electric and autonomous vehicles. The manufacturers are moving ahead without Renault’s 20-year partner, Nissan Motor Co., with the option of the Japanese company joining down the road.

Since establishing d’Angelin with his partner Laurent Clarenbach, the almost 20-person strong shop worked on some high-profile deals including Kering SA’s spinoff of sportswear company Puma and Vivendi SA’s strategy. D’Angelin also had a stint at investment firm Centaurus Capital, where he gained markets expertise. He is a graduate of Sciences Po, the elite Paris school that counts French presidents and business leaders among its alumni.

Renault, too, relied on a boutique name for advice, recruiting Ardea Partners, a firm founded by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. dealmaker Chris Cole alongside James Del Favero and Ivan Ross, who have experience advising automotive clients including General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler. The firm also advised on a big Franco-U.S. deal last year, when XL Group Ltd. sold itself to French insurance giant Axa SA. Renault additionally worked with Societe Generale SA, France’s No. 2 lender.

The deal itself came together in large parts through a personal relationship between Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann and Renault Chief Executive Officer Jean-Dominique Senard, who hammered out the finer points of the transaction over multiple dinners in Turin and Paris. D’Angelin wasn’t immediately available to comment further on his advisory role.

Given the international complexities of the transaction -- spanning Italy, France, Japan and the U.S. -- Fiat Chrysler also counted on advisers with global reach and intimate knowledge of local politics. Nomura Holdings Inc. provided the Japanese know-how of the corporate landscape there to help advise on relations with Nissan, while Goldman Sachs brought a U.S. perspective and its clout as the No. 1 adviser of last year.

Renault decided to pursue a deal with Fiat Chrysler after multiple attempts to deepen an alliance with Nissan into a full-blown merger were rejected by the Japanese, according to people familiar with the discussions. The Franco-Italian duo is pitching the merits of the deal to the Japanese side, and if they were to join later, the group would become the world’s biggest carmaker with 15 million units in annual production.

Both sides on the FCA-Renault talks are poised to earn between $35 million and 45 million each, according to estimates from Freeman Consulting Services.

--With assistance from Ruth David.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kirchfeld in London at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Benedikt Kammel

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