(Bloomberg) -- Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has hired Moelis & Co. investment banker Lawrence Chu to help build out the bank’s presence in Dallas, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chu will be a vice chairman at Jefferies and its global head of telecommunications, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Chu, who is relocating from New York, will start in October, the people added. 

Chu, who had been at Moelis for about seven years, was most recently a managing director at the firm. He’s a longtime adviser to AT&T Inc., which is based in Dallas.

Representatives for Moelis and Jefferies declined to comment.   

Jefferies isn’t the only financial firm looking to grow in Dallas, one of the largest cities in Texas. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has been planning an office tower for 5,000 workers while Charles Schwab Corp. left San Francisco for the affluent Dallas suburb of Westlake. Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group Inc. also have big offices there. 

Before joining Moelis, Chu worked at boutique banks including Greenhill & Co. and Evercore Inc. He also had a stint as special adviser to the US Federal Communications Commission, according to Moelis’ website. 

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