John Rhea joined Centerview as a partner in 2020 to lead the firm’s Capital Advisory platform, which advises clients on structuring and raising debt and equity capital in the private and public markets. Mr. Rhea also co-leads the firm’s Real Estate, Gaming & Lodging practice.
For three-decades, Mr. 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. During his career, Mr. Rhea led numerous industry-defining transactions, including the largest refinancing and recapitalization of affordable housing units (~20,000 apartments) in the U.S.; The Quaker Oats Company sale to PepsiCo, Inc.; Darden Restaurants acquisition of RARE Hospitality; Domino’s Pizza sale to Bain Capital and the company’s subsequent dividend recapitalizations and IPO; Diageo PLC’s structured monetization of its 20% equity stake in General Mills; and KKR’s secondary equity offering to exit its remaining stake in The Gillette Company, to name a few. Additionally, Mr. Rhea executed numerous transactions for Constellation Brands, including domestic and cross-border M&A, acquisition bridge loan advisor, and bookrunner for common stock, convertible and high yield notes offerings. Mr. Rhea has led complex divestitures and restructurings, including distressed asset sales to both strategic and private equity buyers.
Since joining Centerview in 2020, Mr. Rhea has represented Fortune 500 companies, leading private equity firms and emerging growth companies on a range of strategic advisory and financing assignments, including advising The Blackstone Group on its acquisition of the Conrad Prebys Trust multifamily housing portfolio; Dave, Inc. on its SPAC merger with an affiliate of Victory Park Capital and related PIPE investment from Tiger Global; Vericast Corp on its comprehensive debt recapitalization and new money raise; Oscar Health on its convertible notes offering; Avison Young on its debt and equity recapitalization and new money investment; and various public equity offerings for Avantor Corporation (follow-on); Clear Secure, Inc (IPO); and Gates Corporation (secondary) to name a few.
As a director, Mr. Rhea led the Special Committee of Invitation Homes on its $20 billion merger with Starwood Waypoint Homes and the Strategy Committee of WhistlePig, Inc. on its recapitalization with BDT Capital Partners and subsequent tender offer and common stock sale to LVMH.
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 predecessor firms, Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co. and The Williams Capital Group, 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 “100 Most Powerful People in New York Real Estate” and received “Deal of the Year”
from the Urban Land Institute. He currently serves as an independent director of Invitation Homes, Inc (INVH) and State Street Corporation (STT) and as a director of Red Cross Greater New York. Mr. Rhea received a BA from Wesleyan University and MBA from Harvard Business School.