Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone company, has appointed a Goldman Sachs banker to run its mergers and acquisitions department.

Richard Snow, a former managing director in the US bank's European financing division, started work as director of group M&A at Vodafone's UK headquarters last week. He will work closely with Warren Feingold, the former UBS banker who joined as head of global business development in June. Snow replaces Andre Sokol, who has returned to UBS Investment Bank after a two-year secondment at Vodafone. Snow's appointment halts a trend of Vodafone filling its internal M&A ranks with bankers from UBS, which cemented its role as lead adviser to the company since Arun Sarin took over as chief executive from Sir Christopher Gent three years ago. Goldman Sachs and UBS were joint advisers to UBS throughout the 1990s, when Gent led the group on a global acquisition spree. Scott Mead, former head of telecoms at Goldman Sachs, and Finegold, who led UBS' advisory effort, were at the forefront of Vodafone's expansion plans. Both banks advised Vodafone when it bought German conglomerate Mannesmann in the world's biggest hostile takeover in 2000. UBS has had the upper hand since Sarin's appointment, working on seven deals in three years. Sarin recruited Finegold who joined former UBS colleagues Sokol and Charles Butterworth, who have both run the company's internal M&A department. Butterworth is a director in Vodafone's investor relations department. By contrast, Goldman Sachs' involvement with Vodafone has been limited to two public advisory mandates since 2003 – the buyout of minority shareholders in Vodafone's Greek and South African subsidiaries. Reports this year said Sarin thwarted an attempt by Gent, life president of Vodafone, to install Mead, who retired from banking in 2003, as a non-executive director.