William Blair bolstered its investment banking group in Europe with the appointment of five senior hires.
Eric Sanschagrin and Daniel Fiegenschuh have joined William Blair as a managing director and director, respectively, in the technology group. Manuel Sammut has been appointed as a managing director covering tech-enabled services, and Alex Murrill has been named as a managing director covering specialty distribution, commercial services, and industrials. Shane Dulabdas has joined as a director in the firm’s debt advisory group. Cumulatively, the hires bring more than eight decades of European investment banking experience.
“I am delighted to welcome Eric, Daniel, Manuel, Alex, and Shane to William Blair,” said Anu Sharma, head of European investment banking for William Blair. “They are all highly credentialed and bring differing yet complementary expertise to our global investment banking team as we continue our momentum in Europe. As senior leaders, they will work with our growing team across the region to serve our clients with world-class, holistic, and long-term advice. Our clients will benefit tremendously from their networks, diverse experience, and insights.”
The five appointments build upon the recent growth of the firm’s investment banking group. In 2021, the group experienced a record-breaking year of impact for clients globally, unlocking more than $290 billion in capital value and executing more than 485 advisory and capital markets transactions. As an independent partnership with a relationship-oriented and client focus, William Blair has advised on over 90 successful client outcomes since the start of the year. William Blair was also recently named the winner of the 2022 European Corporate Finance House of the Year award at Real Deals’ Private Equity Awards.
Sanschagrin draws on a long career of senior leadership experience, most recently serving as a partner and technology sector leader for EY’s EMEIA strategy and transactions unit and has held senior technology investment banking roles at Piper Jaffray and Citigroup. Fiegenschuh has extensive experience working in the technology sector, having most recently served as an associate partner in EY’s EMEIA strategy and transactions unit.
Sammut joins William Blair following a distinguished career in corporate finance, with 17 years of experience advising corporates, owners/entrepreneurs, and private equity funds. He spent 11 years at DC Advisory where he advised clients on multiple landmark transactions. Most recently, Sammut was a partner at KPMG, where he successfully led and built out the business and tech-enabled services M&A practice.
Murrill has more than 16 years of M&A and equity capital markets experience representing private equity-backed and publicly and privately owned businesses in the specialty distribution, industrial technology, and building technology sectors. He joins from Baird, where he was previously a director in the global industrial investment banking group.
Dulabdas is an accomplished debt advisor, having gained over 11 years of experience advising corporate and private equity clients across a range of transactions, such as acquisition financing, restructurings, and debt refinancing. He joins from Houlihan Lokey (previously GCA Altium), where he served as a director in the debt advisory team.