Braveheart Financial Services, the boutique investment bank sold to Evercore for $50m (€39.5m) the day before it opened in August, has hired its first employees as part of a European push.

Braveheart, run by two former JP Morgan bankers, has hired Tiarnan O'Rourke and Michael Hayes from JP Morgan's UK investment banking operation, JP Morgan Cazenove. The appointments are part of Evercore's UK expansion under the Braveheart banner. Bernard Taylor, former vice-chairman of JP Morgan in Europe, and Julian Oakley, a managing director in mergers and acquisitions, sold Braveheart to Evercore the day before it opened for business. Evercore floated at $21 a share on the New York Stock Exchange in August. According to the terms of the deal, Evercore paid Braveheart in the form of 1.2 million shares for the business and will pay up to another 1.2 million shares over the next seven years. Taylor and Oakley will share up to $3m in a cash earn-out on top of their salaries and bonuses. Evercore's shares were worth $37.80 on Friday, valuing Taylor and Oakley's shares at $45m.