Wilfried Schmidt

European Chairman
United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7856 0902
wilfried.schmidt@dcadvisorypartners.com

Wilfried Schmidt was appointed Chairman of Daiwa Corporate Advisory Partners, the holding company of DC Advisory Partners, in 2010. He has been Vice Chairman of Daiwa Capital Markets Europe since 2006.

Wilfried joined Daiwa Securities Co Ltd in Tokyo in 1991. His career with the group has included various assignments in the international underwriting division and the corporate finance and investment banking divisions in Tokyo, London and Frankfurt. He was previously President of Daiwa Germany GmbH. He serves as a member of the EUREX Exchange Council.

Wilfried began his career as a diplomat, including three assignments in Tokyo. He studied at Moscow State University for International Relations and at Harvard Business School. His hobbies include classical music, literature, fine arts and boating.

Paul Mullins

European Chief Executive
United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7856 9435
paul.mullins@dcadvisorypartners.com

Paul joined DC Advisory Partners in January 2011 as European Chief Executive.

Prior to joining DC Advisory, Paul spent six years at Bank of America where he initially established and built the European M&A team. He then took over the pan-European Global Industries & Natural Resources sector team.

Paul’s career in banking has spanned 30 years at Schroders, Citigroup and BofA both in Europe and the US. He has extensive experience in the Industrials, Automotive and Utilities sectors, advising both regulated and public companies. He has advised on both UK and cross-border M&A.

Paul is currently a Commissioner for The Commission on Ownership as well as a member of the Industrial Development Advisory Board. He graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Jurisprudence.

León Benelbas

Chairman
Spain

Telephone: +34 91 524 11 24
leon.benelbas@dcadvisorypartners.com

León Benelbas is one of the founding partners of Atlas Capital Investment Bankers, the predecessor in Spain of DC Advisory Partners, where he is now President and Chairman.

He is a Doctor in Economics at the Universidad of Barcelona and a Lecturer at the University of California-Berkeley.

Throughout his professional career, León Benelbas has held numerous senior positions in the Spanish government, including Director General for Insurance and Deputy Director General for Economic Planning at the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Finance, as well as at various private companies such as Tabacalera, La Lactaria Española, Seguros Amaya or Ron Investments.

In his stage previous to DC Advisory Partners, he was appointed Managing Partner in the Corporate Finance division of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Raúl J. Julián

Chief Executive
Spain

Telephone: +34 91 524 11 24
raulj.julian@dcadvisorypartners.com

Raúl J. Julián is one of the founding partners of Atlas Capital Investment Bankers, the predecessor in Spain of DC Advisory Partners and since 2009 he is Managing Director for Spain and member of the Board of Directors. He is also responsible of the Financial Services sector in Spain.

He has developed his career in Corporate Finance in Spain and the U.K., firstly at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then at Atlas Capital Close Brothers, having advised on numerous M&A and Debt Advisory (restructuring and project finance) transactions. Raúl has advised insurance groups (Mapfre), banks and savings banks (Banco Pastor, Caja Madrid, Caixa Galicia or Cajasol), private equity groups (3i, Vista Capital or Permira) as well as Public Organisms (he advised the Regional Government of Madrid in the first shadow toll roads program in Spain).

PhD in Business Administration from Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Business Administration graduate form Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, he is also Qualified Accountant in Spain (member of the Registro Oficial de Auditores de Cuentas) and teaches finance programs at Instituto de Empresa business school.

Manuel Zulueta

Managing Director
Spain

Telephone: +34 91 524 11 24
manuel.zulueta@dcadvisorypartners.com

Henry Berczely

Managing Director
Spain

Telephone: +34 91 524 18 29
henry.berczely@dcadvisorypartners.com

Henry Berczely has advised numerous corporations on strategic M&A transactions. His corporate clients have included a wide range of financial services groups such as over 13 Spanish savings banks, Spanish banks such as Banco Santander, Banco Pastor and Banco Guipuzcoano, French banks such as BNP Paribas and Banque Sygma, insurance companies such as Mapfre and Royal London, as well as service companies such as FCC, Dalkia, Aer Lingus, SAGA, Grup Maritim TCB and EOS. Private equity firms Henry has closed transactions with include international firms like 3i, Charterhouse, VSS, Hutton Collins and Capital Z, and Spanish firms like Nazca Capital, Corpfin, Ahorro Corporación Desarrollo and Talde.

Some of the transactions in which Henry has participated include Mapfre’s bancassurance agreement with Caixa Catalunya; the reorganization of Caja Madrid’s strategic alliance with Mapfre, which resulted in Caja Madrid becoming Mapfre’s main shareholder via a capital increase; the sale of 3i’s and other minority investors’ stakes in Grup Maritim TCB; the sale of independent charter airline Futura; the LBOs of SAGA, élogos, Canalmail and Axesor; etc...

Henry is a graduate in Business Studies from Universität Regensburg in Germany and holds an MBA from Spain’s IESE Business School. He joined the investment banking industry in 1998 and worked at Lehman Brothers and Citigroup in London and New York before joining DC Advisory Partners (formerly Atlas Capital Close Brothers).

Joaquín Gonzalo

Managing Director
Spain

Telephone: +34 91 524 18 29
joaquin.gonzalo@dcadvisorypartners.com

Joaquín Gonzalo joined DC Advisory Partners (formerly Atlas Capital Close Brothers) in 2007. Currently he is part of the Healthcare and Energy industry teams.

Joaquín has taken part in several corporate transactions ranging from mergers & acquisitions, and Capital markets, to corporate restructuring. Corporate clients with whom he has worked include Clinica Baviera, Qualytel, Imaginarium, Hospiten or Metrovacesa. Joaquín has also worked with several private equity firms such as for example MCH, Torreal or Qualitas Equity Partners. In restructuring deals, he has worked both with industry clients such as USP Hospitales, and Real Estate companies as for example Afirma, Riofisa or Comarex.

Graduated in Business and Economics from CUNEF, and in Law from UNED, Joaquín holds an MBA from INSEAD. Joaquín began his corporate finance career as an Associate in Transforma Capital in 2001, from where he joined Banesto Corporate Finance as Director in 2003.

César García

Managing Director
Spain

Telephone: +34 91 524 18 29
cesar.garcia@dcadvisorypartners.com

Cesar García was appointed Managing Director of DC Advisory Partners (formerly Atlas Capital Close Brothers) in the Madrid office in 2009. He is responsible for the Consumer Goods sector in Spain and a member of the Financial Sponsors group.

Cesar joined Atlas Capital in 2001 and has advised clients in a range of corporate finance transactions including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructurings.

Prior to current position, he was seconded to Close Brothers Corporate Finance in London. He previously worked for PwC in the Corporate Finance & Investment Banking Division and for Paribas Affaires Industrielles in the Paris office.

Cesar has a French degree in Business Administration from Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) and a degree in Engineering from Madrid Polytechnic University. He has also attended the Executive Corporate Finance program at the London Business School.