CIBC launches new investment banking team with focus on sustainable energy and infrastructure

CIBC Capital Markets has combined two of its investment banking teams to form a group focused on sustainable energy, which could capitalize on U.S. President Joe Biden’s green infrastructure plan.

The “energy, infrastructure and transition,” or EIT, group includes roughly 100 employees from the bank’s global energy team and its global infrastructure and power team. It will be co-headed by Mike Freeborn, who ran the energy group, and David Williams, who ran the infrastructure and power team.

“It became apparent to us that that these two groups share the same client base, and will more so over time on a global basis,” said Roman Dubczak, CIBC’s head of global investment banking. “We decided to take the lead and combine our team to provide the best insights for our clients and also to provide a great opportunity for our team to really show and develop their skills across the energy spectrum.”

Kelsen Vallee, a CIBC managing director who worked for the infrastructure team, will lead EIT’s energy transition advisory and report to Mr. Williams and Mr. Freeborn.

“We’re all looking at one of the greatest secular trends we’ve seen in the world of finance in at least a generation, and that is the transition to a lower carbon future,” Mr. Dubczak said, adding that many of CIBC’s clients are already focused on energy transitions, carbon capture projects, and waste-to-energy initiatives.

Mr. Williams will relocate to New York as CIBC seeks to increase its business in the U.S., and as U.S. lawmakers deliberate Mr. Biden’s proposed US$2-trillion infrastructure plan, which places an emphasis on addressing the threat of climate change.

“I think that that creates a great backdrop,” Mr. Dubczak said about the infrastructure plan. “This would have been something that would have happened in the normal course. What the U.S. administration is doing is adding increased impetus to the transition. It’s just accelerating a trend that would have taken place anyway.”

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