John B. Rhea

For three-decades, John Rhea has been a trusted advisor and C-suite executive in the investment banking, real estate and government services industries and has advised on more than $300 billion in transactions.

He has represented Fortune 500 companies and leading private equity firms on a range of strategic advisory assignments, including Diageo PLC’s structured monetization of its equity stake in General Mills; Quaker Oats sale to PepsiCo for $13.4 billion; SABMiller’s merger of its US brewing operations with Molson Coors; Wendy’s Special Committee on strategic alternatives in connection with its $2.3 billion sale to Arby’s/Trian; Domino’s Pizza on its sale to Bain Capital for $1.1 billion and the company’s subsequent dividend recapitalization and IPO. Mr. Rhea was M&A advisor to Sara Lee on the $2.8 billion acquisition of the Earthgrains Company and Darden Restaurants on its acquisition of RARE Hospitality for $1.4 billion. He’s executed numerous transactions for Constellation Brands, including M&A and bridge loan advisor for the $1.43 billion cross-border acquisition of Australian wine producer BRL Hardy, and led complex divestitures and restructurings, including the distressed sale of Stroh Brewery’s assets to Pabst and Miller, and Aurora Foods to private equity-backed Pinnacle Foods. Additionally, Mr. Rhea led the special committee of Invitation Homes in its $20 billion merger with Starwood Waypoint Homes.

Prior to Centerview, Mr. Rhea was Senior Advisor and President, Corporate Finance & Capital Markets at Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC, where he orchestrated Siebert’s involvement in noteworthy advisory assignments for Charter Communications and IPOs for technology unicorns Uber, Lyft, and Peloton, and private equity-backed companies Change Healthcare, Cushman & Wakefield, and Gates Corporation. Additionally, he engineered the merger of complementary predecessor firms to create the nation’s number one minority-owned investment bank. Mr. Rhea’s previous roles include: Co-Head of Global Consumer & Retail Investment Banking at Barclays Capital and predecessor firm Lehman Brothers; Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase & Co; Senior Advisor to The Boston Consulting Group; and Chairman & CEO of the New York City Housing Authority.

Mr. Rhea has been recognized as one of the “75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street” and “100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate” and received “deal of the year” from the Urban Land Institute. He currently serves as a trustee of Wesleyan University and a director of Red Cross Greater New York. A former David Rockefeller Fellow, Mr. Rhea received a BA from Wesleyan University and MBA from Harvard Business School.