(Adds previous Moelis deals, that banker role will focus onelectronics in addition to semiconductors)
By Liana B. Baker
July 13 (Reuters) - Moelis & Co has hired investmentbanker Zach Righellis as a managing director to build up apractice in semiconductors and electronics, one of the mostactive areas this year in technology dealmaking, the companysaid on Monday.
Righellis, who was at Barclays Plc where he focusedon clients in the United States, Europe, Asia and Israel, willbe based in Palo Alto, California, and continue to work withglobal clients. Moelis made the announcement in a memo onMonday.
Semiconductor dealmaking has reached $79.7 billion so farthis year, already surpassing every full year on record, withthe exception of 2000, when M&A in the sector hit $115.5billion.
Righellis represented semiconductor maker Silicon Image thisyear in its sale to connectivity chip maker LatticeSemiconductor Corp. Earlier in his career, he helpedadvise Qualcomm Inc on the divestiture of vehicle fleettechnology company Omnitracs LLC to Vista Equity Partners, aprivate equity firm..
Moelis, a boutique advisory firm, has been adding to itstechnology, media and telecommunications investment bankingranks in recent months. It hired Barclays technology analyst BenReitzes as a managing director in March. Telecoms specialistLawrence Chu, who joins from the U.S. Federal CommunicationsCommission where he was a special adviser, will start later thissummer.
Moelis recently advised Cast & Crew, a Hollywood payrollservices provider, on its sale to Silver Lake Partners as wellas the software company Shore Group on an investment byFrancisco Partners. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Bernard Orr andJeffrey Benkoe)