RAINE Group plans to close its Hong Kong office and is offering the staff to relocate to Singapore as the New York-based boutique adviser seeks to consolidate its operations in Asia, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Three Hong Kong staff, including a managing director, have been offered to move, the sources said, asking not to be named as the discussions are confidential. The move comes amid a pickup in activity in Singapore, its biggest office in Asia, which continues to be on an expansion path, the sources said.
By creating a bigger hub in Singapore, Raine is seeking to streamline its operations in the region to work more efficiently and offer its most junior talent opportunities to grow, the sources said.
A Raine spokesperson declined to comment.
In 2022, the firm poached Jonathan Pflug, who was then head of South-east Asia mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, as it launched its office in Singapore. Deborah Mei, a co-founder who’s responsible for Raine’s Asia practice, is also based in Singapore.
Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Group’s founder and chief executive officer, invested in Raine when it was launched in 2010 by Joseph Ravitch, an ex-partner at Goldman Sachs, and Jeffrey Sine, a former senior banker at UBS Group.
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Raine has advised SoftBank on various high-profile transactions over the years, including its US$32 billion acquisition of UK smartphone chip designer Arm Holdings.
The firm, which specialises in the technology, media and telecommunications sector, has worked on some marquee deals in Asia, including advising Grab on its merger with Uber South-east Asia in 2018.
This year, it was involved in billionaire businessman Adar Poonawalla’s Serene Productions’ investment in Indian producer Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment, the maker of blockbuster Bollywood movies.
Among other big global deals, it advised English Premier League football club Manchester United on the stake investment from British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
Besides Singapore, Raine has offices in Shanghai and Mumbai in Asia. BLOOMBERG
