Racehorse owner Rich Ricci is set to be reunited with his former Barclays boss Bob Diamond with the merger of investment banks Panmure Gordon and Liberum.
The two City brokers announced their plans to merge this morning, looking to create a consolidated firm with around 250 quoted clients, creating the UK’s “largest investment bank”.
Panmure boss Ricci, who headed up Barclay’s investment bank business, is set to become chief executive of the new firm.
Atlas Merchant Capital, led by Diamond, will provide financial backing to the partnership. The private equity firm took control of Panmure Gordon in 2017.
Ricci and Diamond, along with Jerry del Missier, were known as the “three musketeers” during their time at Barclays when the company saw rapid growth in the run-up to 2008.
Ricci took over running Panmure in March 2020, having spent 19 years at Barclays.
He has built a reputation for his three-piece tweed suits and trilby hats, as well as his hobby of racehorse ownership, despite admitting to never having ridden a horse.
Naming one of his horses ‘Fat Cat in the Hat’, the banker famously made almost £400,000 in one day after three of his horses won at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival.
Meanwhile, Diamond was previously CEO of Barclays, resigning in 2012 after traders at the firm were found to have manipulated Libor interest rates.
Diamond was also branded the “unacceptable face” of banking by then-business secretary Peter Mandelson in 2010 due to the ‘double dip’ tax scandal.
Before Barclays, he held various senior positions across Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley, including as chair, president and CEO of the former.
Diamond’s backing of the new investment bank will see Atlas Merchant’s founding partner David Schamis and vice president Sarah Raimi appointed to the board.
Both firms have struggled with the poor performance of the UK’s IPO market, with Liberum making its first-ever loss of £9m in 2022, while Panmure similarly lost £16m in the same year.
In a stock exchange notice this morning, Ricci said the deal would combine “two highly complementary and culturally aligned businesses” and create “a new force in UK investment banking”.
“This is a very powerful combination and I am excited by the prospect of Panmure Liberum raising the bar in the UK middle market,” added Diamond.
