The team, which provides 50+ years of combined experience working on over 800 debt-related deals, joins Morrow Sodali from D.F. King and will be based in London and Hong Kong, bolstering the firm’s global presence in Debt Services. They will work alongside leading in-house expert Pia Gowland who from now on will oversee Morrow Sodali’s Debt Services activities in the Americas.
Damian Watkin, who joins Morrow Sodali as a Senior Director in the firm’s London office, brings 20 years’ experience in the capital markets industry working with global financial institutions, corporate and sovereign issuers, with extensive expertise in executing liability management and debt restructuring transactions and researching ownership in capital structures. In his previous role at D.F. King, Mr. Watkin built and led the firm’s bonds business outside of the US market, working with a broad range of debt issuers, and their advisors, in some of the largest or highest profile transactions of recent years.
“We are very excited to join the entrepreneurial and client-focused team at Morrow Sodali and be able to offer a seamless service from a truly global and technology-led execution platform to bond issuers and their advisers,” said Mr. Watkin. “Morrow Sodali now has a global footprint, with experienced execution professionals based in Asia, Europe and the Americas.”
Joining Mr. Watkin in London as a Director, Damir Hadžiosmanović has nearly 20 years’ experience in working with corporate and sovereign issuers, assisting them in executing various liability management transactions and bondholder identifications, as well as debt restructurings and schemes of arrangement.
Ken Abela, who joins Morrow Sodali as a Director, brings nearly 20 years’ experience, of which 17 years in Asia, in assisting corporate and sovereign issuers in executing liability management and debt restructuring transactions. Mr. Abela will be based in Hong Kong and will be responsible for strengthening the firm’s Debt Services offering across Asia Pacific markets.
“We are looking forward to expanding Morrow Sodali’s debt-related services in Asia, providing bond issuers and their advisors in the region with an experienced local point of contact, with the ability to assist with transactions and provide advice to practitioners in their own time zone,” said Mr. Abela.
Joining Mr. Abela in Hong Kong, Tina Siu has assisted in providing D.F. King’s debt-related activities led by Mr. Abela, with a strong track record of supporting bond issuers in executing liability management transactions across Asian markets. Prior to D.F. King, Ms. Siu worked with financial institutions focusing on debt market research as well as conducting financial analysis for corporate clients.
Morrow Sodali Global Corporate Director Giulio Pediconi commented: “We are delighted to welcome such an experienced team within the Morrow Sodali family. With the global expansion of corporate debt markets, our combined expertise across our dedicated hubs in New York, London and Hong Kong will enable us to expand our services and offer our clients a truly global coverage in this key market.”
About Morrow Sodali
Morrow Sodali is a leading provider of strategic advice and shareholder and bondholder services to corporate and sovereign clients around the world. The firm provides corporate boards and executives with strategic advice and services relating to corporate governance, shareholder and bondholder communication and engagement, capital markets intelligence, proxy solicitation, shareholder activism, mergers and acquisitions and debt-related transactions.
From headquarters in New York and London, and offices and partners in major capital markets, Morrow Sodali serves more than 700 corporate clients in 40 countries, including many of the world’s largest multinational corporations. In addition to listed and private companies, its clients include mutual funds, ETFs, stock exchanges and membership associations.
For further information about Morrow Sodali, please visit www.morrowsodali.com