Bear Stearns has won its first lead role in the European equity capital markets since entering the business last year, jointly running a $350m (€387m) convertible bond for Shire Pharmaceuticals.

The mandate, which sees Bear Stearns working alongside Goldman Sachs, follows the arrival of Olivier Favre-Gilly. He joined at the end of last year from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) as head of European equity capital markets. Favre-Gilly later boosted the Bear Stearns equity linked and syndicate business with the appointment of Emmanuel Pezier from HSBC Investment Bank, and Andrea Moreggio, also from DrKW, to cover European ECM origination.