NationsBank Syndication Expert Jumps to Merrill

Yet another loan syndications expert is changing jobs.

Michael Zupon, a managing director at NationsBank Corp., is set to join Merrill Lynch & Co.'s growing loan shop next week.

A three-year veteran of NationsBank, Mr. Zupon is known primarily for his ties to big buyout firms, including S.G. Warburg, Acadia Partners, and Stonington Partners.

Bankers with connections to these types of firms-which are frequent users of the leveraged loan and bond markets-have been in high demand recently. Both investment and foreign banks are grabbing high-profile lenders from the largest commercial banks to ramp up their own nascent businesses.

"We are hearing from clients about how there is a real skill set in leveraged finance, project finance, and structured finance that the market wants and is willing to pay big dollars to get," said T. Lee Pomeroy, a consultant in the New York office of Egon Zehnder International.

Indeed, Chase Manhattan Corp. recently lost Chad Leat to Salomon Brothers; NationsBank saw Bradley C. Yates jump to Societe Generale; and Bankers Trust New York Corp. lost Patrice Daniels to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

"This isn't a bubble as much as it is a solid, long-term move by some of these banks," Mr. Pomeroy said.

Mr. Zupon brings to 16 the number of bankers in Merrill Lynch's three- year-old loan syndications group. Merrill recently added director Sheila McGillicuddy from Chase Manhattan Corp., associate Jeff Sockwell from BankAmerica Corp., and Brian O'Callahan from CIBC Wood Gundy.

And the investment bank isn't done hiring. By the middle of the year, Merrill plans to add at least another four professionals to its lending team.

"Our goal is to provide integrated financing solutions to our clients, and that's very broadly defined to include senior debt as well as bonds, equity, and financial advisory services," said Chris Birosak, a managing director and co-head of the loan syndication group. Mr. Zupon reports to Mr. Birosak and John F. Yang, the other co-head of syndications.

NationsBank has yet to name a replacement for Mr. Zupon. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank remains committed to the lucrative leveraged lending market, said Tom Bunn, head of NationsBank's loan syndication group.

"As one of the leading leveraged finance providers in the country, we have a tremendous amount of depth and we'll not miss a beat," Mr. Bunn said.

NationsBank last week also suffered the resignation of John Griff, vice chairman of NationsBanc Capital Markets and one of the architects of its high-grade bond operation. Several other members of its high-grade team recently left for First Union Corp.

Analysts said the departures were a sign of the bank's more focused approach to the capital markets.

"This is not a major defection or a loss of morale as much as it is a mid-course correction," said Anthony R. Davis, a bank analyst at Dean Witter Discover & Co.

Mr. Davis said that NationsBank started out driving toward commodity- driven products and has come to realize that it can stay focused on middle- market companies, particularly with the Boatmen's Bancshares acquisition.

"They have just changed the flavor of what opportunities they saw out there," said Mr. Davis.

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