Gleacher Natwest Hires Morgan Stanley Executive

Merger maven Eric Gleacher has lured a fellow Morgan Stanley & Co. alumnus to the firm he heads, Gleacher Natwest Inc.

Clayton J. Rohrbach 3d joined the investment banking arm of National Westminster Bank this week as a managing director after 15 years at Morgan Stanley.

"Clay's focus will be to coordinate the marketing and client coverage of our M&A, high-yield, acquisition finance, and equity activities," said Mr. Gleacher, chairman of Gleacher Natwest. The merger boutique Mr. Gleacher founded after leaving Morgan Stanley in 1990 was acquired by Natwest in 1995.

Mr. Rohrbach's arrival at Gleacher Natwest follows by several weeks that of David Knowlton, a onetime Chase Manhattan Corp. managing director who is now Gleacher's head of acquisition finance.

As both investment and commercial banks struggle to establish full- service operations for their corporate clients, Mr. Rohrbach's major challenge will be to distinguish Gleacher from the herd.

"The strategic distinction that we have here is the ability to come up not only with the idea but also the advice and the financing," said Mr. Rohrbach, 52.

At Morgan Stanley, Mr. Rohrbach had helped develop the domestic corporate finance division and Latin American business. He was also head of the global equity capital markets group.