Goldman Sachs boosts hiring of dealmakers in Singapore: sources

GOLDMAN Sachs Group is hiring senior investment bankers in Singapore, according to people with knowledge of the matter, as the US lender looks to bolster its dealmaking capabilities in South-east Asia.

The firm has hired Chua Hui Yin from JPMorgan Chase & Co to cover corporate finance and execution, as well as Oversea-Chinese Banking's Andrew Teo for Singapore investment banking, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. The bankers have resigned from their previous roles, the people said.

Chua, Teo and representatives for Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan declined to comment. An OCBC representative confirmed Teo's resignation.

Goldman's move to boost advisers in Singapore comes as dealmaking surges across the region. South-east Asian companies have defied a global slump to raise US$2.7 billion in initial public offerings this year, up 17.5 per cent from the same period in 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The field was led by Indonesia's Goto Group which raised US$1.1 billion. Last year's biggest IPO in South-east Asia was also by an e-commerce firm, as Bukalapak.com raised US$1.5 billion in a Jakarta listing.

Srijith Nair joined Goldman last year as head of South-east Asia financial institutions group from Barclays, according to his LinkedIn profile. Andy Tai, who has been with Goldman for about 15 years, moved to Singapore from Hong Kong as head of South-east Asia investment banking.

Goldman is ranked third for mergers and acquisitions in Asia this year, advising on US$80.9 billion worth of deals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It ranks fifth for equity offerings in Asia ex-Japan so far in 2022, the data show. BLOOMBERG