Reuters names two deals team leaders

Reuters deals editor in charge Greg Roumeliotis sent out the following message on Wednesday:

I’m pleased to announce some organizational changes in the Americas deals team that will further expand our leading coverage.

Liana Baker will be relocating from New York to San Francisco as Deals Team Leader, reporting to me. With better access to Silicon Valley’s insiders, Liana will continue to report on technology, media and telecommunications M&A. She will also assume a broader role of cultivating dealmakers in the U.S West Coast and help me to run the file in the late hours of the day. Liana has been delivering a steady stream of exclusives since she joined the deals team two years ago, including, most recently, the acquisition of Legendary Pictures by China’s Wanda Group, Japan’s NTT Data nearing a deal to buy Dell’s services unit, as well as a string of scoops on the red-hot consolidation sweeping the semiconductor industry. She will also be part of the Olympics reporting team in Rio de Janeiro this summer, and has already broken news on which major U.S. brands are seeking to encroach on official Olympic sponsors during the games. Prior to joining the deals team, Liana was a company news reporter focused on cable and media companies. A Canadian national, she got her start at Reuters as a video game reporter in New York in 2010 after graduating from Northwestern University. Liana is now looking forward to living closer to the West Coast’s mountain ranges and indulging in her favorite hobby, skiing. In her time off, she enjoys traveling around the world, and recently returned from India, where she managed to fit in six cities in just ten days. Those of you in New York are invited to wish her good luck on Thursday April 28, starting on happy hour, at the New York Beer Company, 321 W 44th St, between 8th & 9th Avenue.

Lauren Hirsch, who currently reports on initial public offerings as well as M&A in the consumer and retail sectors, has also been appointed Deals Team Leader, reporting to me. Like Liana, Lauren will play a broader role in helping me to run the file. Lauren has dominated her beat since she joined the Reuters deals team last year. Her scoops include outdoors retailer Bass Pro Shops’ bid for hunting and fishing store chain Cabela’s, TreeHouse Foods’ acquisition of the private label business of ConAgra Foods, and Snack food company B&G Foods’ acquisition of General Mills’ Green Giant frozen and canned vegetable business. She is also a celebrity among beer lovers, having broken deal news on the sector’s biggest brands, including Lagunitas, Dogfish Head Brewery and New Belgium. Lauren joined Reuters last year from Mergermarket, where she covered consumer and retail M&A, first as a reporter, and later as an editor. Originally from Rye, New York, Lauren attended Cornell University as a comparative literature major and went on to receive her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. On the weekends, you can find Lauren balancing Sunday matinees with deal scoops, and, in October, you can find her at Citi Field, where she expects to once again watch the Mets play in the World Series.

Please join me in wishing Liana and Lauren good luck on their new roles.