By Milana Vinn (Reuters) -Boutique investment bank Cascadia Capital is expanding into technology M&A as it hires a veteran technology banker and prepares to open a Silicon Valley office, the firm’s executives told Reuters. The bank has appointed Jonathan Cantwell, previously a partner and head of software investment banking at GP Bullhound, as head of its new technology group. Cantwell will lead recruitment for the new office and build out the firm's advisory practice for companies in the enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors. Cantwell, who previously advised on deals including PeakAI in its sale to UiPath and Compendium in its sale to Oracle at GP Bullhound, said Cascadia will continue to focus on growth-stage companies with an enterprise value of up to $2 billion. "We're at this inflection point where there's a lot of high-growth software and AI companies that are going to be looking for good advisors that have a track record and experience," Cantwell said in the interview. "So, we think it's a good time to come out with a new practice and pick up on some of the deals that I've done over the last few years … there's more to do in the categories including enterprise automation, data analytics, and enterprise applications," he added. Cascadia, led by CEO Michael Butler, a former Morgan Stanley executive, plans to establish an office in Silicon Valley and scale its technology team to approximately 20 M&A bankers. The firm said it has begun hiring for the new group in conjunction with Cantwell's appointment. Bob Diamond, CEO of Atlas Merchant Group and former chief executive of Barclays and Credit Suisse, said Atlas provided an eight-figure-investment to Cascadia back in 2022, to support the firm’s growth at the right time. Atlas is currently a significant minority investor in Cascadia. “You have the importance of software, the importance of AI, you have the blurring of the distinction in financial services between digital assets and traditional finance,” Diamond said. “It couldn’t be a better time” to expand into tech, he added. Cascadia Capital currently operates M&A advisory practices in several other industries, including food, beverage and agribusiness; consumer; industrials; and business services. (Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Nick Zieminski)
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