Axel Granger, previously head of mergers and acquisitions for Southeast Asia at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has joined independent investment banking advisory firm Evercore this week.
Granger, who will be based in Singapore, confirmed the appointment when contacted by FinanceAsia.
He will be reporting to Keith Magnus who was hired about two years ago from UBS to open up Evercore's Singapore office. Magnus was brought on as CEO of the new Singapore business, focusing on providing strategic advice on M&A and capital markets transactions for companies in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Evercore’s Singapore office opened in late 2013 as a hub to serve clients in the city-state and the region. It kicked off official operations in March this year, at that time stating in a release it plans to build its presence by increasing head count to up to 20 by the end of this year.
Granger was previously based in Singapore and was a director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Based on his LinkedIn profile, he had been at the US bank since 2008, and was based in Hong Kong from 2008 till 2013, when he relocated to Singapore.
Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Granger was at UBS for seven years and worked on investment banking in the telecom, media and technology sector, based in the UK and Hong Kong.
In terms of M&A league tables for Asia ex-Japan, Evercore is ranked 37th, having advised companies on $1.2 billion worth of deals since the start of the year, according to data provider Dealogic.
In Singapore, Evercore advised Temasek-linked Singapore Telecommunications on its acquisition of US cyber security firm Trustwave for $810 million, in the firm's biggest acquisition outside of the telecommunications sector.
In Japan it advised Tokio Marine on its acquisition of HCC Insurance for $7.5 billion. According to sources, Evercore is also advising Nokia on its ongoing sale of Here, a mapping unit which has attracted interest from Chinese companies such as Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba.
Last year, over 35% of Evercore's advisory revenues came from clients outside the United States and in the release issued at the March launch, Ralph Schlosstein, president and CEO of Evercore said that he was optimistic that Asia's contribution would grow.
However, Evercore's expansion in Singapore is coming as M&A volumes within Southeast Asia have ebbed to $27.7 billion, the lowest year-to-date level since 2012 when it stood at $25.4 billion.
Overall, investment banking activity out of Southeast Asia has also been patchy, with much of the focus on China and Hong Kong. Singapore's IPO markets for example have been in the doldrums.
Amid weak deal flow, US firm Goldman Sachs has cut back on headcount in Southeast Asia.
Goldman Sachs's head of mergers and acquisition in Southeast Asia, Ruben Bhagobati left the bank in March along with Antoine Izard, managing director in investment banking in Singapore, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Hsin Yue Yong, Goldman Sachs’ head of investment banking for Southeast Asia, also left the US investment bank in February to pursue other opportunities, according to an internal memo seen by FinanceAsia.
