L.A. investment bank staffs up

There's a small group of L.A. investment bankers whose careers have more or less moved in lockstep - from Drexel Burnham Lambert to Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette to UBS. And now, some members of that club are going off to do their own thing, led by Ken Moelis, who announced plans last month to step down as UBS's investment banking president. WSJ's Deal Journal reports that Moelis is enlisting Warren Woo, who left UBS last year.

Details of Moelis new firm – which Wall Street players have dubbed Mo Co., Ken Co, or even Blackstone West (as a nod to Moelis’ plans to stay in Los Angeles) – are emerging. Moelis, a charismatic banker with a beefed-up Rolodex, wants to get the ball rolling by conducting M&A and restructuring advisory work, then building up a private-equity or merchant-banking operation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Also believed to be leaving UBS is Navid Mahmoodzadegan, global head of the media group. Moelis formally leaves UBS in June.