NEW YORK: Bank of America Corp has hired Anwar Zakkour from JPMorgan Chase as co-head of global telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) investment banking, according to a memo confirmed by a bank spokesman.

Zakkour will remain based in New York, reporting to global head of investment banking Christian Meissner. His co-head will be Chet Bozdog, currently head of global technology investment banking.

Zakkour, recently vice-chairman of investment banking at JPMorgan, follows top bankers such as Jim Woolery in leaving JPMorgan this year. Bank of America is in third place this year for advising on communications and technology deals globally, trailing only Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan.

A spokesman at JPMorgan declined to comment. The firm and Bank of America are the largest US banks by assets.

Zakkour joined JPMorgan in 2005 and later advanced to global head of TMT M&A before becoming vice-chairman in 2011. He recently advised MetroPCS Communications on its merger with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA, after earlier working on AT&T’s failed US$39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA.

Zakkour was part of the team that advised General Electric on its two-stage sale of NBC Universal to Comcast, which first bought a 51 per cent stake in the media company in 2011 and this year purchased the rest.

His other significant deals include the restructuring and the merger that created Sirius XM Radio and News Corp’s acquisition of Dow Jones & Co in 2007.

(Bloomberg)