(Bloomberg) -- 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 people with knowledge of the matter.
Three Hong Kong staff, including a managing director, have been offered to move, the people 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 people 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 people said.
A Raine spokesperson declined to comment.
In 2022, the firm poached Jonathan Pflug, who was then head of Southeast 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 Corp.’s founder and chief executive officer, invested in Raine when it was launched in 2010 by Joseph Ravitch, an ex-partner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Jeffrey A. Sine, a former senior banker at UBS Group AG. Raine has advised SoftBank on various high-profile transactions over the years, including its $32 billion acquisition of UK smartphone chip designer Arm Holdings Plc.
The firm, which specializes in the technology, media and telecommunications sector, has worked on some marquee deals in Asia, including advising Grab on its merger with Uber Southeast 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 Manchester United on the stake investment from billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.
Besides Singapore, Raine has offices in Shanghai and Mumbai in Asia.
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