Bob Wigley

Bob chairs Merrill Lynch’s EMEA Region Management Committee and sits on Merrill Lynch’s Global Operating Committee and Client Coverage Council.

Bob Wigley joined Merrill Lynch in 1996 to help spearhead the development of Merrill Lynch's European investment banking business.

Bob became Co-Head of Corporate Broking in 2000, Co-Head of UK Investment Banking in 2001, Global Co-Head of Telecom and Media Investment Banking in 2002 and Chairman of EMEA Corporate Banking from 2003 before taking up his current position in December 2004.

Bob is a member of the Court of the Bank of England and a member of its Risk Policy Committee and a Non-Executive Director of LCH.Clearnet and of Euroclear PLC. He is a Deputy Chairman of Business in the Community (the UK corporate social responsibility organization) and Chairman of BITC’s Education Leadership Team. He is a member of the Senior Practitioner Committee of the Financial Services Authority, a member of the Chairman’s Committee of the London Investment Banking Association, a member of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, a member of the Chancellor’s "wise men" group representing key financial stakeholders in London, the EU Advisory Board of the London Corporation, the Advisory Council of Business for New Europe and Chairman of Oxford University’s Centre for Corporate Reputation. He is an Ambassador for the children’s mobility charity, Whizz-kidz. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and is a member of the Court of the Guild of International Bankers. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and has a business degree from Bath University. He is married with three children.

As a client banker, Bob has advised on many of Merrill Lynch's larger European transactions and personally led the teams on GUS's £2bn hostile bid for Argos, Asda’s £7bn sale to WalMart, the £13bn merger of Cable & Wireless Communications with NTL, the $37bn merger of Hong Kong Telecom with Pacific Century Cyberworks, the $11bn sale of C&W Optus to Singapore Telecom, United News and Media's £2bn sale of its TV assets, Philip Green’s £1bn acquisition of Arcadia, the £1.25bn IPO of Burberry for GUS, Logica’s £1bn merger with CMG, the £3bn IPO of Yell, the €1bn sale of Bertelsmann’s publishing business, BertelsmannSpringer and Bertelsmann’s music joint venture with Sony, Philip Green’s £12bn hostile bid for Marks & Spencer, the sale of lastminute.com to Sabre Inc., Exel’s £4bn sale to Deutsche Post, LogicaCMG’s acquisition of Unilog and related rights issue, BOC’s £9bn sale to Linde, the IPO of QinetiQ, the £9.5bn demerger of GUS to form Home Retail Group and Experian, the acquisition of WMData by LogicaCMG, the IPO of Hogg Robinson Group and the £2.3bn placing of Her Majesty’s Government’s stake in British Energy.