When he first picked up the Lindt account for Credit Suisse more than a decade ago, Jens Welter may not have thought that it would take until last month to consummate his first deal for the company. Yet that is precisely what happened.

After biding his time, the global co-head of consumer and retail investment banking at Credit Suisse finally acted for the Swiss chocolate maker last month on its acquisition of US peer Russell Stover for an estimated $1.4 billion.