Nomura, the Japanese investment bank, is planning to expand its mergers and acquisitions teams by more than a fifth next year across Japan, Europe and the US. The bank said it had "aggressive" plans for Europe.

Kenji Kimura, head of Nomura's 100-strong M&A group, said the bank would hire around 20 M&A bankers in Japan and more in Europe and the US. He did not specify numbers outside Japan.