Barclays' Asia M&A head Ed King given global role

Ed King, head of M&A for Asia Pacific at Barclays, is moving to the US to take on a new role as executive chairman of global M&A, according to a memo seen by FinanceAsia.

King, who is currently based in Hong Kong, will move to Menlo Park in California in the first quarter of next year.

In his new role he will provide senior M&A coverage to clients across industries and regions, with a particular focus on clients on the US west coast, the memo said. He will also lead cross-border M&A between Asia Pacific and North America. A source familiar with the matter added that a replacement would be found for King’s role in Asia.

King, who joined Barclays in 2010, was previously head of M&A for Asia Pacific at Morgan Stanley. He followed former Morgan Stanley boss Matthew Ginsburg, who was appointed head of investment banking for Asia-Pacific at Barclays in 2009, to build up the British bank's investment banking and equity capital markets franchise in the region.

Barclays built up its investment banking franchise globally after acquiring Lehman’s US operations in 2008. It is ranked eighth for announced M&A deals for Asia ex-Japan and ninth for completed M&A deals, according to Dealogic data.

King already had more than 20 years of experience in investment banking when he joined Barclays, including 11 at Morgan Stanley.