Credit Suisse has bolstered its investment banking team with two senior appointments to extend its technology-related deal-making capabilities, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The duo include Alain Lam, who joined Credit Suisse as head of technology in Asia, as well as Richard Kao, who joined as a senior member of the Greater China corporate finance team.
Lam has joined from Morgan Stanley where he most recently held the position of managing director of the global capital markets group.
Meanwhile, Kao has returned to Credit Suisse eight years after his departure in 2007. He was a director with Credit Suisse’s investment banking team from 2000 to 2007 before moving to Goldman Sachs as an executive director in the corporate finance team.
Immediately prior to re-joining Credit Suisse, Kao was head of solutions for Standard Chartered’s Greater China operations.
Both Lam and Kao will be based in Hong Kong in their new role.
A Credit Suisse spokesperson declined to comment on the appointments.
The appointment of Lam and Kao could extend Credit Suisse’s already strong franchise in China’s technology space, which is reflected by the large number of deals it has been involved in.
In 2013 and 2014 Credit Suisse advised 14 Chinese technology companies on their US listings, including Alibaba, Weibo, Jumei International, and 58.com, according to data provider Dealogic.
The Swiss bank was also involved in some high-profile technology mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese companies, including the $1.2 billion merger of online video giants Youku and Tudou in 2012.
It was also a financial adviser to Didi Kuaidi when the Chinese taxi-hailing app developer raised $2 billion in July this year in the largest single fund-raising ever by a private Chinese company.
