MUFG Expands Restaurant Finance Group with 9 New Hires

NEW YORK, May 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced today the hiring of nine bankers to the Restaurant Finance group of its Corporate and Investment Banking division.

Two leadership hires among them are Managing Director Nick Cole, who will head the newly expanded group and report to Scott Hagel, MUFG's Head of U.S. General Industries; and Managing Director Quinn Hall, who will lead loan underwriting and portfolio management and report to Cole.

All nine hires join MUFG from Wells Fargo, and their start date is June 1. The combined group will operate from San Diego, Atlanta, Chicago and Boston.

Managing Director Brian Geraghty, an eight-year veteran of MUFG's Restaurant Finance group, will serve as head of loan originations and also report to Cole.

"The expansion of MUFG's Restaurant Finance group demonstrates our confidence in the business prospects of this industry, which approached $660 billion in U.S. revenues in 2020 and is expected to grow," says Hagel. "This group now features a deep bench of experienced bankers in this segment that builds on the significant market penetration we've gained over the past two years—and positions MUFG to be a market-leading provider of financing solutions across the value chain for franchisors, franchisees and restaurant operating companies."

Cole and Hall each have more than 25 years of investment banking experience in the restaurant industry.

Cole will be based in San Diego. Previously he was an Executive Vice President at Wells Fargo and head of specialty finance covering multiple sectors including chain restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores, limited-service chain hotels and special-purpose real estate. Before then he was a Managing Director at Bank of America's Corporate and Investment Banking division managing client relationships with restaurant companies. Cole earned an M.A. in international and public affairs at Columbia University and a B.A. in history at Haverford College.

Hall will be based in Atlanta. He was formerly a Managing Director at Wells Fargo's Middle Market Banking Division and head of underwriting, strategy and analytics for the bank's Restaurant Finance group. Previously he served as the group's head of business development and then as head of portfolio management. Before joining Wells Fargo, Hall led Bank of America's Restaurants and Beverage group within Corporate and Investment Banking. He has an M.B.A. from Georgia State University and a B.S. in business administration from Auburn University.

The other new additions to MUFG's Restaurant Finance group include Managing Director Joe Rinaldi, Managing Director Eric Schnyder, Director Emily Sutton, Director Matt Kochan, Director Zac Kalemba, Vice President Luis Victorio and Associate Mike Le.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Restaurant Finance group at MUFG has focused on well-known brands within the "quick-serve" and "fast-casual" segments of the industry. "We expect the growth of these segments, which have performed well during the COVID-19 pandemic, to accelerate as the pandemic subsides and provide opportunity for us," Hagel says. "Additionally, we will leverage the experience of our newly hired talent to expand our platform to other franchise concepts beyond restaurants."

MUFG is one of the world's largest financial institutions by assets, with approximately $3.4 trillion.¹

About Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.'s U.S. Operations including MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation

The U.S. operations of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG), one of the world's leading financial groups, has total assets of $344 billion at December 31, 2020. As part of that total, MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation (MUAH), a financial holding company, bank holding company, and intermediate holding company, has total assets of $168 billion at December 31, 2020. MUAH's main subsidiaries are MUFG Union Bank, N.A. and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. MUFG Union Bank, N.A. provides a wide range of financial services to consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies, and major corporations. As of December 31, 2020, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. operated 348 branches, consisting primarily of retail banking branches in the West Coast states, along with commercial branches in Texas, Illinois, New York, and Georgia. MUFG Securities Americas Inc. is a registered securities broker-dealer which engages in capital markets origination transactions, domestic and foreign debt and equities securities transactions, private placements, collateralized financings, and securities borrowing and lending transactions. MUAH is owned by MUFG Bank, Ltd. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG Bank, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. Visit www.unionbank.com or www.mufgamericas.com for more information.

About MUFG

About MUFG Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world's leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with around 2,600 locations in more than 50 countries. The Group has over 180,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to "be the world's most trusted financial group" through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG's shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english

¹ ¥351.7 trillion as of December 31, 2020, and according to the USD/¥ exchange rate on that day

Press contact:
Assaf Kedem
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SOURCE MUFG