Citi seems to have hired Lazard's global co-head of financial sponsors, who arrived from JPMorgan last July

Financial sponsors bankers are hot. After long years of calling the return of private sponsor deals, it's not inconceivable that will 2026 will be the year in which the dam finally bursts. And banks are lining up talent for when it does.

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In the latest major move in the space, we understand that Citi has hired Klaus Hessberger, the former JPMorgan banker who joined Lazard as co-head and head of Europe for financial sponsor coverage last July. Hessberger declined to comment for this article, as did Citi. 

Hessberger's move comes as Financial News reported today that Barclays has hired Erkin Yildiz from Jefferies to run its financial sponsors business in EMEA. The two job changes are the latest in a series of financial sponsor hires that's likely to have repercussions through this year and maybe beyond.

Those moves include Kaan Kesedar's January move from Citi to Evercore and Nomura's recruitment of Benjamin Moureaux from HSBC in the same month. Last year, Citi lost star financial sponsor banker Anthony Diamandakis to JPMorgan, while JPMorgan hired Silvia Biscaldi from Mubadala for its strategic investor group. Last year, Barclays hired Neel Langunani who was last seen at Credit Suisse, as head of financial sponsors for APAC.

By all accounts, it should be a good year to be the sort of private sponsors banker who helps private equity funds sell their investments. Speaking today, BlackStone's well-travelled president Jon Gray declared this will be the "best year ever" for the firm's IPOs as dealmaking accelerates to "escape velocity." Banking CEOs from David Solomon at Goldman Sachs to Ted Pick at Morgan Stanley repeated a similar mantra at the time of their first quarter results. 

If and when Hessberger arrives at Citi, it is not clear how he will fit with the US bank's existing sponsor team. Citi already has Ashu Khullar and Sidharth Punshi running its European financial sponsors operation. Maybe Citi has room for three at the top? Hessberger will at least be familiar with Vis Raghavan, the head of Citi's investment bank who joined from JPMorgan in 2024 and who has been hiring former colleagues ever since. 

Hessberger is still technically employed by Lazard, which didn't respond to requests to comment for this article. We reported previously that Hessberger arrived at Lazard and embarked upon an 100 day tour of various global locations in a bid to make Lazard a “premier global financial sponsors house." Maybe he will now do the same thing again at Citi.

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