By Soma Biswas

Bill Derrough, a leading banker for corporate restructurings and debt transactions, is leaving Moelis after 17 years at the boutique investment bank to join Jefferies, according to people familiar with the matter.

At Jefferies, Derrough will serve as chairman of the firm's global restructuring practice, the people also said. His departure from Moelis follows the recent decision by Ken Moelis to step down as chief executive from his namesake firm later this year.

Derrough, who was one of two heads of Moelis's restructuring team, is known for pioneering tactics that have become the norm for large companies grappling with heavy debt loads. He advised on high-profile restructurings including iHeartMedia and Hertz Global Holdings, which his team led through a chapter 11 that included a billion-dollar payout to its shareholders.

Moelis has made other changes at the top this year, naming bankers Barak Klein and Zul Jamal as co-heads of its U.S. restructuring and debt advisory team.

The move to Jefferies is a return of sorts for Derrough, who left the firm in 2008, along with Thane Carlston, to start the restructuring practice at Moelis.

Carlston was named chairman of the Moelis debt advisory and restructuring group earlier this year.

Moelis, under Derrough and Carlston, has been among the firms that have led a transition over the past decade in the way that large companies restructure debt and respond to financial crises.

Instead of filing headline-grabbing bankruptcy cases, large companies increasingly find ways to quietly avoid or delay chapter 11 by shuffling large debt stacks and often persuading and pressuring lenders to push out maturities and grant other forms of debt relief.

In 2023, Derrough's team advised Carvana on a debt swap that enabled it to delay interest payments, helping the online used-car startup avoid a liquidity crisis.

Jefferies has been building up its restructuring team in recent years, hiring bankers away from its rivals for senior roles in Europe, as part of a firmwide strategy to capture business from larger and more high-profile clients.

Write to Soma Biswas at soma.biswas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 19, 2025 13:48 ET (17:48 GMT)

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