Citi’s Varelas Plans to Depart

By Matthew Karnitschnig
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page C3, February 28, 2008.

Christopher Varelas, co-global head of technology media and telecommunications investment banking at Citigroup Inc., plans to leave the bank for a private-equity firm, people familiar with the matter said.

He is currently negotiating the terms of his departure, which comes as the bank has been restructuring its operations in the wake of the huge write-downs it took as a result of its exposure to bad mortgage securities.

Mr. Varelas started at Salomon Brothers, later Salomon Smith Barney, which was acquired by Citigroup in 1998. A highly regarded banker, he has led some of its biggest deals in the technology sector, including Hewlett-Packard Co.'s $25 billion acquisition of Compaq and International Business Machines Corp.'s recent $5 billion takeover of Cognos.

Mr. Varelas plans to join fledgling private-equity firm Bigwood Capital LLC as a founding partner, the people say. The firm is led by Michael E. Marks, the longtime chief executive of Flextronics International Ltd., who is credited with turning that company into a leading electronics manufacturer. Mr. Marks is also a senior adviser to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Bigwood, which will soon be named Riverwood, specializes in small to medium-size equity investments in the technology arena. Mr. Marks started the firm last year and raised an initial fund totaling about $200 million.

The firm's other founding partners include Nick Braithwaite, a former Flextronics chief technology officer, and Jeff Parks, who has worked at Oaktree Capital LLC and KKR.

Write to Matthew Karnitschnig at matthew.karnitschnig@wsj.com

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