Macquarie boosts new Asian equity arm

Macquarie Bank formally launched its new Asian cash equities initiative - Macquarie Securities - today after having acquired the business for $145 million from ING Group in March.

According to Macquarie investment banking head Nicholas Moore, the business unit, which had 428 staff at the point of sale, has already appointed 40 additional staff in the corporate finance and equities areas.

Moore says the mandate for the business under its new ownership is to strengthen its position in the Asian region by adding more facets to the business and delivering a wider range of products to clients.

The acquisition of the former ING business, which was initially alluded to in February of this year, resulted in a number of the Dutch bank’s operations in the region and transfer to Macquarie, including its equity sales, trading and research interests.

The acquisition brought together businesses in 10 Asian countries: Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines

Moore says the Asian cash equity business would give Macquarie critical mass in institutional broking in the region.

“It allows Macquarie to broaden its infrastructure, equity capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and other activities around the region,” he says.

The deal will also resulted Macquarie take on the Dutch bank’s Asian sales and trading desks in London, New York along with other European and North American locations.