In a major score for a fairly minor player in U.S. media deals, Morgan Stanley media investment banker Jeff Sine is jumping ship to run the media and telecom unit of UBS Warburg.
Sine will be global head of technology, media and telecom investment banking for the company, which is controlled by the Union Bank of Switzerland. Sine will also be a managing director and a vice chairman of the investment banking department.
Sine is one of the biggest media bankers on Wall Street, heading up Morgan Stanley's media section since 1991. Sine is frequently in the middle of the biggest media deals, advising Time Warner in its sale to America Online and its takeover of Turner Broadcasting, plus Viacom in its takeover of CBS. Morgan Stanley is a powerhouse, particularly in selling junk bonds, but UBS Warburg is not.
Sine's new company is an amalgamation of Warburg Pincus, Dillon Read and Painewebber, all of which Union Bank acquired over the past several years. While influential in European deals, none of those firms have been big players in the U.S. But Sine noted that UBS does have a much larger trading operation and the formidable balance sheet of Union Bank. "It's a build in the U.S. but it's very exciting," Sine said. He'll report to Ken Moelis, formerly co-head of investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston.- John Higgins
