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Credit Suisse Hires Laungani for Asia Technology Deals

Credit Suisse Hires Laungani for Asia Technology Deals

Credit Suisse Group AG has hired investment banker Neel Laungani as the Swiss lender seeks to build its team for deals in telecommunications, media and technology in Asia Pacific, according to people familiar with the matter.

Laungani is rejoining Credit Suisse in Hong Kong as a vice chairman of investment banking in Asia Pacific with a focus on TMT, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. He has been a managing director and head of TMT for the region at Deutsche Bank AG since 2017.

Hiring the veteran dealmaker would help fill the gap left by Alain Lam, who departed the Swiss bank earlier this year to join Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. as chief financial officer, people familiar with the matter have said. Credit Suisse had named Allan Chu head of TMT in Asia Pacific, people said at the time.

Laungani worked at Credit Suisse from 2008 to 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Laungani was a managing director at Standard Chartered Plc. He had also worked at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Representatives for Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Technology has been one of the busiest sectors in Asia Pacific this year, where the volume of announced M&A deals has soared 54% from a year earlier to nearly $75 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest deals include Nvidia Corp.’s $40 billion purchase of SoftBank Group Corp.’s chip division Arm Ltd., and the $2.7 billion acquisition of Bitauto Holdings Ltd. by a consortium led by Tencent Holdings Ltd.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.