By Ken Tarbous
March 19, 2010
Noah Bulkin considered taking up law and went as far as interning at Linklaters' Brussels office before enrolling at Oxford University.
But all it took was one visit to Merrill Lynch's London office to get him hooked on investment banking. The 33-year-old Bulkin continues to make deals as head of mergers and acquisitions for EMEA real estate, gaming and leisure at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
He was appointed to that post last year, and over the past 18 months he has been assuming more responsibility for the firm's U.K. M&A operations across all sectors, a job that has made use of his broad skill set.
Bulkin, who spent the first 11 years of his life in New York, thrives on competition and loves making deals — the more challenging and complex, the better.
He counts himself among the professionals who have made lifestyle sacrifices for his work. Bulkin spent more than a year helping Electricite de France (EDF) with its pursuit and eventual $23.2 billion acquisition of nuclear power giant British Energy and then arranged a deal to sell a minority stake in the company to Centrica plc for $3.5 billion.
The purchase of British Energy involved the U.K. government as both a shareholder and an energy policymaker. Bulkin says the cross-border transaction and its complex structure changed the way energy deals are made in Europe.
"For me, the thrill of a contested M&A situation and the ability to participate in really transforming a business ... are really the things I probably get the biggest buzz from," Bulkin said.
Title: head of real estate, gaming & lodging M&A for EMEA
Company: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Age: 33
Time with Company: 11 years
