LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley's Peter Bacon, one of the most senior financing bankers in Europe, has left the U.S. bank to pursue other opportunities, according to an internal company memo.

Bacon, who joined the bank in 2007, was head of the bank's global capital markets group (GCM) in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He was previously the bank's co-head of global leveraged and acquisition finance business.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Bacon led the financial sponsor business in Europe for Credit Suisse from 2000 until 2006. He also worked at a hedge fund in 2006.

Bacon's departure was announced by the U.S. bank in an internal memo, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley confirmed the contents of the memo.

Gene Martin, the bank's New-York based co-head of leveraged finance and acquisition finance has also left, a second person familiar with the matter said.

The bank is one of several Wall Street banks using layoffs and compensation cuts to help boost its bottom line.

Morgan Stanley plans to slash 1,600 jobs globally, many of whom work in its securities unit, sources told Reuters earlier in January.

However, Bacon's resignation was not part of the bank's redundancy programme, the source said, adding it had more to do with some senior level changes in November last year.

The bank promoted several senior bankers to positions overseeing mergers and acquisitions in the United States and Europe, following a shake-up at the top level of that division last month.

Franck Petitgas, who was co-head of the capital markets group with Bacon, was promoted to global co-head of investment banking along with Mark Eichorn.

(Reporting by Dinesh Nair, Lauren Tara LaCapra and Steve Slater; Writing by Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters) Keywords: MORGANSTANLEY BACON/

(kylie.maclellan@thomsonreuters.com)(+44 207 542 0401)(Reuters Messaging: kylie.maclellan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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