UBS Group AG appointed David Slade as global co-head of leveraged finance as Switzerland’s biggest bank continues a spate of top hires, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Slade, who worked at Nordic private-equity firm EQT Partners, will be based in London, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. At UBS, he will lead the leveraged finance business alongside Francisco Pinto and Brendan Dillon, they said. Before joining EQT, Slade worked at Credit Suisse Group AG on the European leveraged finance team.
UBS is focusing more on its advisory business in investment banking, after scaling down capital-hungry bond-trading businesses to reduce risk under its head of investment banking, Andrea Orcel. The bank this year worked on deals including Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.’s 10.25 billion-pound ($15.3 billion) purchase of Telefonica SA’s O2 unit in the U.K., and CRH Plc’s acquisition of cement assets from Holcim Ltd. and Lafarge SA.
The Swiss firm last year hired Severin Brizay from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to oversee its M&A team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Laurent Bouvier from Swiss competitor Credit Suisse to head its global industrials group. UBS last month also appointed Gregoire Haemmerle from JPMorgan to lead corporate-client solutions in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Slade couldn’t be immediately reached for comment by telephone. A representative for UBS declined to comment. A spokeswoman for EQT confirmed Slade has left the firm.
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