Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking’s West complex deal team, which provides specialist advice to mid-market and large corporates on debt-funded transactions across the region, has appointed Owen Vizard as an associate director.
He will work alongside director Gavin Reid and will support the Commercial Banking team of relationship directors, which is headed Clive Hetherington.
Owen, pictured, who has more than 12 years’ experience in corporate banking, originally joined the HBOS mid-markets team in Bristol in 2001 as a graduate, working with a wide network of businesses with annual turnover of £15m-plus, providing financial expertise, funding and guidance to help drive confidence and business growth.
Most recently he spent three years with Lloyds Bank in Birmingham, before deciding to return to his West roots.
The complex deal team structures tailored funding to clients to support merger & acquisition (M&A) activity, including management buyouts, re-financings, shareholder restructurings and strategic investment. The division complements Lloyds Bank’s acquisition finance team, which provides leveraged debt exclusively for private equity sponsored transactions.
Owen will cover the region from the bank’s flagship regional offices in Bristol.
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking area director Mr Hetherington said: “Owen brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our complex deal team in the South West. We sense an increase in deal flow and are strengthening our offering in order to provide a dedicated resource in support of the growth aspirations of Lloyds Bank's existing and new clients.”
Owen added: “I am very pleased to be returning to my roots in the South West and I am looking forward to using my corporate banking experience to help local companies achieve their growth and development objectives.
"Raising debt for M&A activity based on cashflow rather than assets requires a highly-tailored approach. We work closely with management teams to really understand their businesses' financial and market dynamics. This helps us to shape the funding structure, enabling companies to fulfil their ambitions without putting undue stress on the balance sheet now or further down the track."
