Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Inc. announced it is expanding its Food & Beverage practice by hiring three corporate bankers with extensive experience in the restaurant finance sector.
Christopher Addison, Shawn Janko and Jake Nash have joined as Managing Directors, MUFG said. They will report to Brian Geraghty, Co-Head of MUFG's Food & Beverage Finance group.
Janko started on June 10; Addison is scheduled to begin on Aug. 12; and Nash's start date is Sept. 12.
"With their industry experience and history of client service in the restaurant-franchise business, Chris, Shawn and Jake provide a natural extension to our existing food, beverage and restaurant platform," said Geraghty. "For MUFG, this expansion allows us to further penetrate a sector where we have industry expertise and see additional opportunities."
Addison spent the past 15 years with Bank of America, nearly all of it in the bank's Restaurant Group, where he managed a portfolio of more than 25 franchisee and franchisor clients. Addison earned a B.S. degree in economics from the University of Florida.
With more than two decades of experience in corporate and commercial banking, Janko joins MUFG after 13 years with Bank of America and 10 years with Wachovia Bank. Since 2011, he had been the Senior Credit Products Manager for Bank of America's Restaurant Finance Group, where he provided financing and treasury solutions to operating companies and franchisees of large regional, national and multinational restaurant companies. Janko earned his MBA in finance from Georgia State University after graduating with a B.S. in business and communications from the University of Alabama.
Nash comes to MUFG from Regions Bank where he was a Managing Director/Relationship Manager in the bank's Restaurant Group since 2012. At Regions Bank, Nash managed relationships with strategic financial sponsors as well as a portfolio of restaurant companies in the western U.S. He also spent nine years as a corporate banker in Bank of America's Restaurant Finance Group. Mr. Nash is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he earned a BBA in finance.
The Food & Beverage Finance group is a unit of the MUFG Corporate Bank's General Industries division.
"We believe there's a high ceiling in the restaurant finance business and that we have the right people in place to make it successful," said Scott Hagel, Head of MUFG's General Industries group. "With MUFG's strong business network and solid foundation of products and services, I am convinced we can support clients with intelligent and innovative financial solutions as they look to grow their businesses across the U.S."