2023 Vault Rankings
At a Glance
“Apprenticeship model—unique opportunity to learn from and work with some of the smartest, hardworking, talented bankers in the world”
“Quality of work—high profile clients and deals, and deal flow is strong”
“Comp is highest on the Street”
“Work/life balance—hours can be long and unpredictable”
“Stress”
“Smaller firm with fewer resources in certain areas”
About Centerview Partners
In 2006, UBS Vice Chairman Blair Effron had dinner with his friend Robert Pruzan, a veteran investment banker and former CEO of Wasserstein Perella. The two men decided to capitalize on the lucrative M&A boom by going in to business together, opening a boutique they dubbed Centerview Partners—the name came from the view at their new office on the 19th floor of Rockefeller Center. The firm has since moved to larger offices in New York; it also has offices in London, Palo Alto, Paris and San Francisco. And today, that firm’s clients include 20 percent of the 50 largest companies in the world.
At Centerview, there are just two lines of business: M&A advisory and restructuring, with both businesses addressing strategic, financial, and operational issues for its clients. (An affiliated capital group focuses on high potential, growth-focused technology companies, as well as the U.S. consumer middle and upper-middle market, most recently through the creation of two SPACs, both of which have been successfully invested.) Since Effron and Pruzan's vision was realized, Centerview has added several additional high-powered bankers and brought total headcount up to just over 450.
Though small in size, Centerview has worked on numerous huge deals, including Sprint’s $146 billion merger with T-Mobile, BAT’s $97 million merger with Reynolds American, SABMiller’s £79 billion sale to AB InBev, 21st Century Fox’s $85 billion sale to the Walt Disney Company, Time Warner Cable’s $79 billion merger with Charter Communications, CVS Health’s $77 billion acquisition of Aetna, Express Scripts’ $67 billion sale to Cigna, Mylan’s $50 billion combination with Upjohn, Qualcomm’s $49 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors, CBS and Viacom’s $48 billion merger, Royal DSM’s €40 billion merger with Firmenich, FIS on its $43 billion acquisition of Worldpay, Energy Future Holdings’ $42 billion restructuring, AstraZeneca’s $39 billion acquisition of Alexion, and Blackstone, Carlyle, and H&F’s $34 billion majority investment in Medline.
The firm has also given restructuring advice relating to Avaya, Blackhawk Mining, Caesars Entertainment, Chicago Bridge & Iron, CTI Foods, Garrett Motion, GTT Communications, One Call, PG&E, and Westmoreland Coal. Overall, Centerview’s partners have advised on more than $3 trillion worth of transactions since Centerview was formed.
31 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 380-2650
Employer Type: Private
Co-Founding Partners: B. Effron, J. Kilts, R. Pruzan
2023 Employees (All Locations): 450
Palo Alto, CA
San Francisco, CA
New York, NY
London, United Kingdom
Paris, France