It would be easy to surmise that Simon Mordant has given up the fast-paced world of Australian investment banking and Sydney’s social set given that he lives much of the year in bucolic Umbria. Until he calls to discuss a deal. Which he does frequently, working overnight from his home in Italy to match the time zone wherever the transaction is taking place.

To some, he is a “pest”. To others, his relentlessness is a virtue. Either way, everyone in the market has an opinion. And, for all the time spent overseas (Mordant is also now a gin-maker), he is very much still at work. In December, for instance, he sealed his latest deal, helping South Korean healthtech group Lunit buy ASX-listed Volpara Health Technologies for $292 million.