Goldman Sachs’s Alexander Dibelius trades banking for buyouts

Alexander Dibelius, the Goldman Sachs dealmaker and one of the most renowned investment bankers in Germany, is to join the European buyout group CVC as a managing partner, people familiar with the matter said.

He will serve as a board member with responsibility as CVC’s chief for German-speaking Europe, they added.

Mr Dibelius is a veteran of Goldman’s German operations and is close to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. He has also long been acquainted with Steve Koltes, CVC’s co-founder and co-chairman.

At Goldman, Mr Dibelius worked on large transactions including Kabel Deutschland, which was once a CVC target; Vodafone’s $180bn takeover in 2000 of Mannesmann; and the separation of Daimler and Chrysler in 2007.

His career at the investment bank included a spell in its private equity investing division. He joined Goldman’s Frankfurt office in 1993 at the age of 30, having previously worked as a McKinsey consultant and before that as a heart surgeon with a PhD.

The bank announced Mr Dibelius’ departure from the firm internally last week, in a notice that said he would leave at the end of July, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr Dibelius rose to become Goldman’s chief in Germany before stepping down in October to become co-chairman of its global investment banking unit.

He has often been a fixture on the Davos skiing circuit, competing with other German executives in the Burda cup.

Investments in Germany by CVC include Douglas, a perfumery chain recently acquired from fellow buyout house Advent, and the chemical company Evonik, in which CVC has been selling down its stake.

CVC and Goldman both declined to comment.