Warburg Dillion Reed to expand in Tokyo

Warburg Dillon Reed, the investment banking arm of Swiss financial services group UBS, is planning to double the size of its corporate finance group in Tokyo.

Warburg Dillon Reed, the investment banking arm of Swiss financial services group UBS, is planning to double the size of its corporate finance group in Tokyo.

At present it has fewer than 40 staff for corporate finance in Tokyo but the number will be boosted to more than 70 by the end of the year.

Management at Warburg Dillon Reed said the decision to strengthen the business is based upon the company’s desire for a larger share of the mergers and acquisitions business in Japan.

The mergers and acquisitions business has attracted a lot of attention in Japan since the nation’s lengthy economic slump forced many companies to restructure or seek out new partners to keep competitive.

The move by Warburg Dillon Reed follows Credit Suisse’s acquisition of the Tokyo equity team of British financial group Schroders on Tuesday.

“Based on our strength in equity finance and our global network, we’ll reinforce the mergers and acquisitions business by focusing on the financial, high-tech and telecom sectors,” said Izumi Nishizaki, managing director at Warburg Dillon Reed in Japan.

By Tom O’Brien