BofA taps UBS tech dealmaker Hardegree as M&A vice chair

Bank of America has hired veteran technology dealmaker Richard Hardegree from UBS as a vice chair of mergers and acquisitions, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Thursday, adding more than three decades of semiconductor dealmaking experience to its Palo Alto office as global deal volumes surge past $2 trillion in 2026.

Hardegree, who was most recently vice chair of technology investment banking at UBS, will report to Eamon Brabazon and Ivan Farman, BofA’s co-heads of global M&A investment banking. He starts in August and will be based in Palo Alto, California, putting him near the semiconductor and enterprise technology firms that have generated a large share of recent dealmaking.

The appointment extends a recruiting push by the Charlotte-based bank as it works to enlarge its share of technology-sector advisory fees. Earlier in 2026, BofA hired four veteran bankers from rival institutions to strengthen its tech investment banking franchise, part of a broader push under chief executive Brian Moynihan to close the gap with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan in M&A advisory. The bank ranked fourth among global M&A advisers by deal value in the first quarter of 2026, Dealogic league tables show, trailing Morgan Stanley, Goldman, and JPMorgan.

Hardegree brings a portfolio of marquee transactions spanning more than three decades. His advisory credits include Broadcom on its acquisition of VMware, Veeco on its merger with Axcelis, and SAP on the sale of Qualtrics to Silver Lake. A graduate of Columbia Law School, he has concentrated on semiconductor and enterprise software deals throughout his career, the sectors that have dominated technology M&A as companies consolidate to capture artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.

A Bank of America spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo. Hardegree could not immediately be reached for comment. A UBS representative did not respond to a request for comment on his departure.

The hire lands as global deal volumes accelerate sharply. Roughly $2 trillion in M&A transactions have been announced so far in 2026, a 32 per cent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to Dealogic. Technology deals have driven a disproportionate share of that activity, fuelled by consolidation in semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and enterprise software as companies seek scale in concentrated supply chains.

Wall Street’s largest banks are rebuilding senior advisory benches. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley have each made multiple senior-level M&A hires in the first half of the year, targeting dealmakers with deep sector expertise and long-standing client relationships rather than generalist backgrounds. The competition for veteran semiconductor bankers has been especially intense, recruiters say, because the pool of advisers who have led transactions above $10 billion is small.

Hardegree’s move to BofA is expected to strengthen the bank’s West Coast technology coverage, an area where it has trailed competitors.