Lazard Expands Southeast Asia Advisory Business

Lazard has started hiring to grow its Southeast Asia advisory business, a region which has seen record M&A volumes in the first nine months of this year.

The bank has recruited Harish Parameswar as a managing director in Asia to oversee the expansion of its advisory business in the region.

Charles Ward, president of Lazard, said: "Harish's hire is a major step in leveraging the significant potential for cross-border M&A in this region, from both U.S. and European corporates, as well as from major Asian companies in countries such as China and India."

In March, Lazard advised Singapore's wealthy Khoo family on the sale of its 12 percent stake in Standard Chartered, the UK-listed emerging markets bank, to Singapore state investment agency Temasek Holdings. The $4 billion (€3.15 billion) deal was the seventh largest overseas acquisition by an Asia-Pacific company on record in the region according to Dealogic, the investment banking research provider.

In 2002, Parameswar was a founder of Beacon Advisory, a boutique Asian advisory firm targeting cross-border M&A and capital raising in the technology, media, telecoms, manufacturing and services sectors. Before starting Beacon, he worked at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan in corporate finance roles across Asia.

With Lazard, Parameswar will be based in Singapore and also cover the technology and media sectors across Asia identifying opportunities in the region for overseas clients. He will work with David Timblick, head of Lazard Asia.

Lazard launched its southeast Asia practice in 1997 with the opening of an investment banking office in Singapore. The firm has three professionals in the region and plans to add two to three more staff by the end of the year.

Asia-Pacific (ex Japan) M&A reached its highest ever first nine months volume with $249.5 billion of deals, according to Dealogic. China led the region with $64 billion of deals.