(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Montreal has hired investment banker Laura Holden from Raymond James Financial Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

She will focus on transactions in the food, consumer and retail sectors at BMO Capital Markets, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. She will work alongside Paul Billyard, who joined the bank from Evercore Inc. last year. 

Holden focuses on deals in high-growth consumer brands, her LinkedIn profile showed. She worked at Stephens Inc. before Raymond James. 

In a separate move, BMO has appointed Lech Czerski to cover financial services mergers and acquisitions, the people said. Czerski, who is based in Chicago and has been with BMO since 2014, most recently covered deals in the food, consumer, retail and restaurant sectors. 

They report to Warren Estey, head of the U.S. M&A group. 

A representative for BMO declined to comment while Holden, Czerski and Raymond James didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

BMO also hired Peter Neckles from Jefferies Financial Group Inc. as a managing director focused on the health-care services sector, Bloomberg reported this month. 

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