GlaxoSmithKline springs finance director surprise

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Simon Dingemans, one of the M&A world's so-called Big Swinging Dicks of the past decade, is jumping ship from Goldman Sachs to be Glaxo chief executive Andrew Witty's new point man.

Dingemans is renowned for his huge bonuses while at Goldman, where he headed up the European M&A operations, having advised on some of the biggest corporate deals of recent years.

Competitive and uncompromising in deal negotiations, he is credited with keeping Goldman at the top of the coveted league tables of big takeovers, only last month being named as Financial News magazine's Number one European rainmaker of the year.

The appointment inevitably led to speculation that Witty was planning to purse mega-mergers, using Dingeman's expertise but a Glaxo spokeswoman denied any change in strategy.

Although banker-to-Plc chairman is a common route, it is rare for big-name investment bankers to move into executive roles. John Cryan, a big wheel in UBS's M&A practice, became finance director of the bank, but the move was seen as almost unprecedented.

Dingeman's recent deals included advising Swiss pharmaceuticals group Novartis on its $28.1 billion (£18 billion) takeover of Alcon.