HONG KONG, June 25, 2010 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered Bank is steadily expanding its leverage finance team in Hong Kong as opportunities increase in its core markets, senior sources at the bank said.
The bank's Northeast Asia leverage finance team, headed by Ed Crook, formerly with Citi in New York, has added four new members so far this year to an existing team of five as activity in the bank's core markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa picks up.
'The constraint now is not bank liquidity or reticence, which we saw in 2009. Banks are keen on sound, well-priced deals,' said a senior source at the bank, who asked not to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media about the matter.
As well as increased corporate acquisitions and restructuring work in China leading to listings in Hong Kong, the sources note an increase in financial sponsor activity in Southeast Asia.
In Indonesia, StanChart is a mandated lead arranger with CIMB Bank for CVC Asia Pacific Ltd's acquisition of a majority stake in PT Matahari Department Store Tbk, while in Singapore, the bank is an underwriter on the leveraged buyout of Acument Global Technologies, by CVC together with the bank's own Standard Chartered Private Equity.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Corp in the Philippines continues to generate deal activity as it reinvents itself by divesting its core food and beverage business into higher growth power and infrastructure assets.
First-round bids are in on San Miguel Pure Foods Co Inc , where trade buyers and sponsors are conducting due diligence on a stake sale that could be worth over $900 million.
NEW HIRES
While most of this year's hires have been junior positions, freeing senior team members to market the bank's products, the latest hire is director, Michael Han.
Han, with 13 years' banking experience, has returned to StanChart after a two-year stint at Barclays Bank. His first day back at StanChart was June 23.
Other hires this year are Antoine Paycha, an analyst who was previously at Societe Generale; Michelle Song, an analyst hired from Macquarie Bank who was also previously at JP Morgan; and Eunice Tang, who was previously at Citi.
They have joined existing team members Michael Tse, Tristan Tan, Bianca Law, Patrick Seung and Peggy Leung. Tse and Tan are directors, while Law, Seung and Leung are associate directors.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
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