Nomura, Asia’s global investment bank announced 15 senior hires within its Investment Banking business in the Americas. Over the last 12 months, these 12 managing directors and three executive directors were hired across the M&A, Acquisition & Leveraged Finance, Equity Capital Markets, Consumer/Retail, Healthcare, Financial Institutions, Industrials and Technology groups.

“I am pleased to welcome these talented and experienced bankers to our Americas platform. Nomura is committed to growing the Investment Banking business strategically and thoughtfully. These 15 hires are a testament to that commitment, and we are confident their expertise and strong client relationships will help the Americas franchise to best serve our clients through our unmatched Asian perspective and our ability to provide meaningful solutions and advice,” said James DeNaut, Joint Head of International Investment Banking and Head of Investment Banking, Americas.

The 15 senior appointments, based in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, are as follows:

• Fedora Baloiu joined Nomura as a managing director in the Healthcare Group, based in New York. Baloiu has 15 years of experience in the Healthcare sector with a focus on pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Most recently she was head of the Biopharmaceuticals Practice at Houlihan Lokey where she focused on M&A and Revenue Interest Financing. Prior to that, Baloiu was a senior vice president in the Healthcare Group at Goldman Sachs. She began her career at Bain & Company, in Milan, Italy.
• Thomas Chung joined Nomura as a managing director and head of Private Capital Markets in the Equity Capital Markets Group, based in New York. Prior to joining Nomura, Chung spent more than 17 years at Credit Suisse, where he held a number of investment banking roles, most recently as a managing director and head of Private Capital Markets Solutions Origination. Previously, he held roles at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
• Samuel Evans joined Nomura as a managing director and senior relationship manager, based in New York. Evans has more than 30 years of financial sector experience. Most recently he was at Sagamore Capital Advisors, servicing financially orientated firms. His experience includes a range of senior roles at SAC Capital Advisors, Deutsche Bank and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
• Eric Jacobs joined Nomura as a managing director in the M&A Group, based in New York. With nearly 20 years of M&A experience, Jacobs has held a number of M&A, Healthcare focused roles, including managing director of Healthcare, M&A, at Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), where his expertise included corporate strategy, client development, capital structure analysis, negotiations and complex transaction structuring. Prior to that, he was a managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and a director at Citigroup.
• Jonathan Leong joined Nomura as a managing director covering the Food space within the larger Consumer/Retail Group, based in New York. Leong was most recently a managing director at Jefferies in its consumer investment banking group, and prior to that, he was a director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch on its consumer investment banking team.
• Eric O’Dell joined Nomura as a managing director to cover the automotive industry. O’Dell most recently was a managing director and head of Automotive for Credit Agricole. Prior to that, he spent more than 10 years with Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Industrials investment banking group.
• John Sheldon has joined Nomura as managing director in the Consumer Retail Group focused primarily on Beverages. He has more than 35 years of investment banking experience with Consumer Retail companies and M&A. Prior to joining Nomura, Sheldon was president of First Beverage, a merchant bank focused on beverages. Previously, Sheldon was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Lazard and Peter J Solomon Co.
• Chris Shilakes joined Nomura as a managing director in the San Francisco office, heading Software Banking within the Business Services & Technology Group. Shilakes was most recently a managing director for Software Banking and head of Venture Capital Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He held prior roles as head of Technology Specialty Sales and head of Software Equity Research at Merrill Lynch, where he was nationally-ranked by Institutional Investor magazine for his coverage.
• Donald Sung joined Nomura as a managing director and head of Convertible Origination in the Equity Capital Markets Group, based in New York. Sung was previously at Lazard Freres, where he was a managing director in the Convertible Advisory Group. He has more than 20 years of experience in Equity Capital Markets and equity derivatives area and has held several senior roles at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, in the Equity Capital Markets groups in the New York and London offices. Sung began his career as a corporate tax attorney at Sidley & Austin.
• Jim Voorheis joined Nomura as a managing director in the Financial Institutions Group, based in New York. He was most recently a managing director and head of Specialty Finance, Americas, at UBS. Prior to that, he was a managing director at Deutsche Bank where he was responsible for the coverage and origination efforts for a variety of specialty finance clients. Voorheis has more than 25 years of financial services experience and has worked across a variety of sectors and geographies throughout his career.
• Scott Willard joined Nomura as a managing director in the Acquisition & Leveraged Finance Group, based in New York. Prior to Nomura, he was a managing director in the Financial Sponsors and Leveraged Finance groups at UBS. Preceding his time at UBS, Willard was a member of the Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets groups at Deutsche Bank.
• Douglas Yablonski joined Nomura as a managing director in the M&A Group, based in New York. Prior to Nomura, he was a managing director in the M&A Group at RBC Capital Markets and has also held senior roles at Harris Williams and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He started his career as a corporate attorney at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
• Anthony Kim joined Nomura as an executive director in the Healthcare Group. He has 14 years of investment banking experience with a focus on healthcare. Before joining Nomura, Kim was a senior vice president at Jefferies in their Healthcare group. Previously, he was an investment banker at Oppenheimer and JPMorgan.
• Eric Roddy joined Nomura as an executive director covering restaurants within the larger Consumer/Retail Group, based in New York. Roddy was most recently at Macquarie Capital, where he was a senior vice president on its Consumer & Retail team. Prior to that, Roddy was a principal at Centerstone Partners, where he also acted as CEO for one of its portfolio companies, Brightridge Solar. Roddy began his career at Deutsche Bank, where he spent 11 years in the Equity Capital Markets and Global Consumer groups.
• Chris Young joined Nomura as an executive director in the Acquisition & Leveraged Finance Group, based in New York. Prior to joining Nomura, Young was at Deutsche Bank, where he held various roles in Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets over his 12-year career.

Nomura is an Asia-headquartered financial services group with an integrated global network spanning more than 30 countries.