UBS to Open Menlo Park Office, Hires Lynch for Tech Deals

(Bloomberg) -- UBS Group AG plans to open an office in Menlo Park, California, and hired Sean Lynch from Barclays Plc to bolster its business advising technology companies ahead of a predicted revival in dealmaking and initial public offerings.

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The Swiss bank will open the premises on Sand Hill Road — a hub for venture capital firms — in the coming months, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some staff currently working out of UBS’s San Francisco offices will be moved to the new location, another person said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

UBS has hired Barclays’ Lynch, who covers companies including Uber Technologies Inc. and Tesla Inc., amid the efforts to expand, the people said. Menlo Park-based Lynch worked at Barclays since 2013, Finra records show. Earlier in his career, he worked in leveraged finance and advised on the issuance of about $1.7 billion in convertible notes for Uber last year.

A representative for Barclays declined to comment. A representative for UBS didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment and Lynch didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Banks are preparing for a rebound in deals following a prolonged slump that prompted many to shed thousands of jobs. Rival firms, including Morgan Stanley, have used a Silicon Valley presence to court tech companies. JPMorgan has opened a Palo Alto campus.

UBS’s rescue of rival Credit Suisse Group AG last year also spurned a considerable amount of talent reshuffling across investment banking.

A slew of Barclays bankers have joined UBS since the lender named Marco Valla co-head of global banking last year. The hires include Laurence Braham, who is the firm’s global co-head of technology investment banking, Richard Casavechia, who is UBS’s head of global banking in the Americas and Richard Hardegree, a vice chairman within technology investment banking.

(Updates with detail on Menlo Park office, company comment from first paragraph.)

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