Barrenjoey Capital nabs George Kanaan, Jarrod Key from UBS

George Kanaan, managing director at UBS Equities.

Australia’s most dominant block trader, George Kanaan, has departed UBS to join the new start up Barrenjoey Capital in what marks the end of an era for the trading room floor of the Swiss bank.

Mr Kanaan has been widely anticipated to jump ship from UBS to join the new investment banking start-up launched by ex UBS operative Guy Fowler and soon expected to include Mr Kanaan’s former boss, Matthew Grounds, within its top ranks.

Mr Grounds departed UBS as the Australian head last year.

Magellan Financial Group last month confirmed it was funding the new venture Barrenjoey Capital along with Barclays Capital.

It marks the end of an era for Mr Kanaan, who has worked at UBS as its Head of Australian Distribution since 2005, running equity sales and the sales trading desk, carving out a new, lucrative market in institution-to-institution block trades.

The UBS blocks desk was started in 2012, and Mr Kanaan’s team has printed deals worth well over $100bn.

Born to an immigrant family from Lebanon and raised in South West Sydney, Mr Kanaan has a reputation as one of Australia’s most powerful stockbrokers, with a feisty personality that has helped him rise in the ranks of investment banking despite at one stage contending with a major battle with cancer.

He is earlier reported to have said that in his high school years, while growing up in a poor immigrant family from Lebanon, he could make “20 bucks by lunch”, but his fortune is now well over $10m.

Mr Kanaan, who is now in his late forties, previously worked at JPMorgan and at 28, he was heading Credit Suisse’s trading desk, where he pocketed a $500,000 pay packet after propelling the bank into the top ratings.

The jovial trader once made headlines for an alleged tussle on the trading room floor with former colleague and good friend Mark Fitzgerald.

Among some of his major transactions include the $2bn share placement of securities in the Commonwealth Bank at the height of the global financial crisis and the $4.05bn listing of Aurizon, or QR National as it was known in 2010.

So far, Barrenjoey’s top management consists of former UBS investment banker Mr Fowler, executive chairman, former Challenger boss Brian Benari, chief executive, and former Deutsche Bank Australia deputy CEO John Cincotta, and former UBS operatives Matt Hanning and Chris Williams as founding partners.

BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie will be Barrenjoey’s senior strategy partner, while former Barclays Australia chief executive Cynthia Whelan will join as a strategic adviser.

Outgoing ANZ boardroom head David Gonski — one of the country’s most well-connected businessmen — is believed to be in line to take the role of independent chairman.

British bank Barclays has entered into a co-operation agreement with Barrenjoey to offer all its investment banking services, including balance sheet funding.

Magellan, chaired by Hamish Douglass, will offer $90m in cash and 1.2 million Magellan shares to buy a 40 per cent stake in Barrenjoey.

Barclays will put forward $45m to gain a 9.99 per cent interest.

The new venture will offer traditional corporate advisory transaction services, including equity capital markets, debt capital markets and leveraged finance solutions and a number of investment bankers around the market are understood to have been targeted for a role.