George C. Johns is a Principal in the Investment Banking Group of Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P. He spearheads the firm's investment banking activities serving the insurance industry and brings over 25 years of experience to this role. Mr. Johns’ work encompasses merger and acquisition advisory and capital raising services for the life, property/casualty, reinsurance and brokerage sectors.
Since joining Sandler O'Neill in late 2007, Mr. Johns has advised on a number of transactions including the sale of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs to Willis Group and Aflac's purchase of Continental American Insurance Company. He also advised the Special Committee of the Board of Odyssey Re Holdings in connection with Fairfax Financial's offer to acquire the common shares of Odyssey Re it did not already own.
Prior to joining Sandler O'Neill, Mr. Johns headed the Financial Institutions Corporate Finance Group at Wachovia Securities, where he oversaw that organization's capital raising and M&A efforts across all sectors of financial services. Prior to Wachovia, he was co-head of the Financial Institutions Investment Banking team at Banc of America Securities for over five years with similar responsibilities for managing both client development and transaction execution. Mr. Johns started his career in the M&A Group at The First Boston Corporation and also worked in Salomon Brothers' Financial Institutions Group.
Mr. Johns holds a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.