Alantra strengthens its US operations with two new Managing Directors and internal moves

Alantra, the independent global mid-market financial services firm, has strengthened its investment banking capabilities in the US by hiring Aakash Bhasin and Petru-Santu Acquaviva as Managing Directors based in New York City.

Aakash started his career at JP Morgan in New York and joins Alantra from Turtle Bridge Advisors, an M&A boutique Aakash founded. Before that, Aakash was a Managing Director at Wells Fargo Securities focusing on Industrials M&A.

Petru-Santu joins Alantra from BNP Paribas Investment Banking Group, where he was Head of Industrial Services Investment Banking (Engineering & Construction, Building & Utility Contractors, Environmental Services). Before that, he worked as Corporate Development and M&A Manager at ENGIE in Houston and Mexico City. Petru-Santu started his career at Leonardo & Co. focusing on Energy & Infrastructure M&A.

The Alantra team in the US is composed of more than 60 bankers across the firm’s offices in New York City, Boston, and San Francisco. The firm’s ambition is to significantly scale its operations in the US by building out deep sub vertical expertise in its existing sectors (Industrials, Consumer, Healthcare, Tech, and Tech enabled Services), and by adding new verticals, in which Alantra has a competitive advantage due to its strong track record in Europe (i.e., Energy Transition and FIG).

As part of a broader strategy to promote stronger cross-border collaboration within Alantra’s Investment Banking division and a more integrated service offering for the firm’s clients, Jon de Perdigo, a Director from the Madrid office, and Alexandre Maroufi, a Vice President from the Paris office, are relocating to the New York City office. Earlier this year, Philipp Krohn was appointed CEO of Alantra US and moved to the US.

Alantra will continue to hire talented professionals that can help deliver on its growth ambitions. Year-to-date, the firm has significantly strengthened its capabilities in Germany (Jan Caspar Hoffman, CEO), the Nordics (Daniel Lilliehöök, Partner), Spain (Pedro Urresti, MD in FIG, and Ernesto Plevisani, MD), and Switzerland (Michael Maag, CEO, and Martin Gamperl, MD).