Deutsche Bank expanded its Americas Corporate Finance franchise with the appointment of Mark Sooby and Harris Ghozali as managing directors focused on Energy Acquisitions and Divestitures.

With the addition of Sooby and Ghozali, the total number of managing directors hired within Americas Corporate Finance this year is 15.

“Mark and Harris bring more than 50 years of combined experience in the upstream exploration and production field,” said Warren Estey, Americas head of NRG. “They have extensive track records on oil and gas acquisition and divestitures and their expertise will be of tremendous value to our clients.”

Sooby will join from Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he has been responsible for Energy A&D in the Americas for the past 11 years. Previously, he was with Petrie Parkman for seven years until its acquisition by Merrill Lynch in 2006. He has extensive experience in domestic and cross border oil & gas M&A and has advised some of the most prominent clients in the energy space.

Ghozali will also join from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Ghozali has more than 25 years of experience in the exploration and production field. He spent 14 years at Ryder Scott managing and leading reserves evaluations and started his petroleum engineering career at Exxon working on various exploration, development and surveillance projects.

Both Sooby and Ghozali will be based in Houston and are expected to join in October 2017.