Merrill's Peake joins Aladdin Capital

* Peake will be COO of Aladdin Capital LLC

* He will also be global head of syndicate

* Aladdin Capital is trying to expand its business

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters) - Aladdin Capital Holdings hired Merrill Lynch's head of emerging markets syndicate Carlyle Peake as part of the boutique investment bank's hiring spree, taking advantage of Wall Street struggles.

Peake, who was a managing director at Merrill Lynch, was appointed chief operating officer of Aladdin Capital LLC and global head of syndicate.

He will report to Neal Neilinger, vice chairman and chief investment officer of Aladdin, and Steve Mandella, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Aladdin Capital Holdings, the bank said on Tuesday.

Aladdin, best known for managing and issuing collateralized loan and debt obligations, has hired more than 25 people since October and expects to end the year with 125 employees.

Aladdin is expanding its capital markets business, which is focused on trading debt and building out its investment banking and advisory business.

Aladdin also continues to manage money, while it looks for some unusual areas such as its debtor-in-possession financing fund. (Reporting by Juan Lagorio; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)