Banco Espírito Santo wants to hire. Specifically, we understand it wants to hire both mid-market M&A bankers and ECM bankers.

It’s signalled its aspirations this week with the solicitation of Anthony Fry from Evercore.

Fry, who is now chairman of UK banking at the company, was previously head of investment banking at Lehman Brothers and a built his reputation as a big name UK investment banker during the privatisations of the 1980s.

According to Financial News, Banco Espírito Santo wants to build an investment banking business on the back of the equities sales and trading platform it acquired in the form of Execution Noble last year.

Fry’s manifestation at the company is seen as a, “strong signal for expansion,” by those close to the situation. However, headhunters say Banco Espirito Santo might struggle to hire: good relationship bankers are popular right now, and Fry hasn’t traditionally had a mid-market focus.