Nomura hires bankers from Bank of America, UBS and Jefferies in U.S. expansion

NEW YORK – Nomura Holdings Inc. has hired 15 investment bankers in the U.S. from firms including Credit Suisse Group AG, Bank of America Corp. and Jefferies Group LLC as the trading house builds out its North American business.

The additions, which took place over the past year, were for leveraged finance, equity capital markets, consumer, health care, financial institutions, industrials and technology and M&A groups, Nomura said Monday in a statement.

Chief Executive Officer Koji Nagai has said he is open to hiring entire teams of investment bankers or even making acquisitions as the firm attempts to shed its underdog status in the U.S.

The company has about 200 people in its regional unit covering mergers advisory, equity capital markets and leveraged financing.

“We are confident their expertise and strong client relationships will help the Americas franchise to best serve our clients through our unmatched Asian perspective and our ability to provide meaningful solutions,” James DeNaut, head of investment banking in the Americas, said in the statement.

Among those hired were:

Fedora Baloiu as a managing director in the health care group after stints at Houlihan Lokey Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Thomas Chung as a managing director and head of private capital markets in the equity capital markets group. He spent 17 years at Credit Suisse.

Samuel Evans as a senior relationship manager. He was most recently at Sagamore Capital Advisors LLC.

Eric Jacobs is a managing director in the M&A group after working at RBC Capital Markets.

Jonathan Leong as managing director covering the food industry after a stint at Jefferies.

Eric O’Dell as a managing director covering the automotive industry after serving in a similar role at Credit Agricole SA.

John Sheldon covers the beverage industry as a managing director. He has had stops at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Lazard Ltd.

Chris Shilakes leads software banking within the business services and technology group. He was most recently at Bank of America.

Donald Sung leads convertible origination in the equity capital markets group after serving in a similar role at Lazard Freres.

Jim Voorheis as a managing director in the financial institutions group. He was formerly at UBS Group AG.

Scott Willard as a managing director in the acquisition and leveraged-finance group after serving in a similar role at UBS.

Douglas Yablonski as a managing director in the M&A group after most recently working at RBC Capital Markets.

Anthony Kim as an executive director in the health care group after working at Jefferies.

Eric Roddy as an executive director covering restaurants after a recent stint at Macquarie Group Ltd.

Chris Young as an executive director in acquisition and leveraged finance after 12 years at Deutsche Bank AG.