(Reuters) - Barclays Plc (>> Barclays PLC) has named Larry Hamdan as head of mergers and acquisitions for the Americas, the UK investment bank said on Friday.

Hamdan has led the global industrials M&A group since joining Barclays in 2010 and will continue in that role as well.

Hamdan, who also spent 20 years at Credit Suisse (>> Credit Suisse Group AG), has worked on notable transactions including US Airways' merger with American Airlines Group Inc (>> American Airlines Group Inc), Blackstone Group LP's (>> The Blackstone Group L.P.) $5 billion (3.32 billion pounds) buyout of Gates and Danaher Corp's (>> Danaher Corporation) tool joint venture with Cooper Industries Plc.

Barclays also announced that Steve Wolitzer has been named vice chairman of banking. Wolitzer, who has been with the firm for almost 40 years, was one of the founding members of the M&A group at Lehman Brothers. He will help represent some of the firm's most important clients.

(Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York)