Barclays appoints new M&A team

(ShareCast News) - Barclays has hired nine people to work within its EMEA banking team as it looks to boost its mergers and acquisitions business.The bank announced the appointment of Carlo Calabria, who joins from CMC Capital, to the role of chairman of M&A for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Calabria was vice chairman of bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Corporate and Investment Banking division.Eight other individuals from Calabria's team at CMC Capital, both in London and Milan, will also be joining Barclays to work in the EMEA banking team. This includes his partners Enrico Chiapparoli who will be joining the Industrials team to lead the coverage effort for the automotive sector, and Stefano Soldi who will be joining the power & utilities team.The bank said Calabria will work closely with Pier Luigi Colizzi, head of M&A EMEA at Barclays, "to further accelerate the strong momentum of the M&A team, focusing on the firm's client relationships and leveraging Barclays' strong position in both M&A and financing".Chiapparoli has over 20 years of experience in investment banking in European industrials, most recently as chairman of EMEA Automotive and head of Investment Banking Italy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, prior to joining CMC Capital.Crispin Osborne, co-head of Banking EMEA at Barclays said: "We are delighted that Carlo has joined Barclays, his senior client experience and proven track record will further help to drive the momentum of our EMEA Banking business."These appointments show the strength of our platform and our commitment to better help our clients achieve their goals."Last week, Barclays confirmed the sale of its 62.3% stake in Barclays Africa as part of its plans to focus on Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate & International.At 1213 GMT, Barclays shares were down 2.5% to 169.95p.