Fifth Third Committed to Mezzanine After Top Talent Bolts

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati plans to remain in the business of providing mezzanine finance, even though a rival investment management company has hired four of its lenders.

MVC Capital in Purchase, N.Y., on Tuesday said it hired David Williams, Harrison Mullin, David Gardner and Scott Foote. The four bankers will remain in Cincinnati and be assigned to Tokarz Group Advisers, the external manager for MVC. Williams co-founded Fifth Third's mezzanine finance group in 1999.

The $132 billion-asset Fifth Third will continue to provide mezzanine finance as it and other regional banks have focused on building capital-markets business lines.

Fifth Third has "extended our private placement and advisory capabilities to include second lien debt, mezzanine debt and minority equity," said Greg Kosch, executive vice president and head of Fifth Third's wholesale bank. "We believe this is an important tool for our clients to have as a financing option."

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