Morgan Stanley has hired two GE Capital managing directors and a vice president from TD Securities to continue the buildout of its leveraged finance business, according to an internal memo sent by Michael Hart, global co-head of the acquisition and leveraged finance group. The firm has also added asset-based lending to its offering of high-yield products.
The two GE Capital alums are Bruce Buchanan, executive director, who will serve as the global head of restructuring finance and strategic lending origination, and Dan Gioia, executive director, who will be responsible for structuring and syndicating leveraged and asset-based lending transactions. Robert Louzan joined from TD and will be a v.p. managing the proprietary portfolio of investments and evaluate potential financing opportunities. The trio will report to Jason Colodne, global head of the strategic finance group. A Morgan Stanley spokesman confirmed the hirings.
The strategic finance group falls within the leveraged and acquisition group. The addition of asset-based lending was made so the bank would be able to offer every type of product within the structuring/financing spectrum, one individual speculated. Existing members of the group and other hirings are expected to help with the effort. No timeframe has been set. Buchanan, Gioia, Louzan and Colodne were not available for comment.
Buchanan joined GE in 2001 and worked in the national restructuring group. Prior to that, he worked at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi for a year as a v.p. in the special asset group. He had previously worked at Houlihan, Lokey, Howard & Zukin (Sunrise Capital Partners) and BDS Securities. Gioia most recently worked in the capital market groups at GE.