Banta Exits Greenhilll Advisory Team

Neil Banta has left Greenhill & Co.‘s private capital advisory group, Jeff Taufield, a firm spokesman, confirmed to sister Web site peHUB. It was unclear whether Banta has joined another firm.

Banta joined Greenhill in 2008 when the investment bank launched the fund placement advisory group. Banta had been a managing director within the Greenhill group.

In May 2008, at the dawn of the financial crisis, several executives of Lehman Brothers’ private fund marketing group left to form the group at Greenhill. They include Christopher Kirsten, who was then the global head of Lehman’s private fund marketing group, and Patrick Dunleavy, who was a managing director. Lehman Brothers collapsed the following September and filed for bankruptcy protection.

Kirsten is currently co-head of Greenhill’s private capital advisory group and a managing director, while Dunleavy is also a managing director. Greenhill’s private capital and real estate capital advisory group has worked on more than 120 fundraising transactions since 1998, the firm’s Web site says. Greenhill acted as the global placement agent for Siris Partners when it collected $641 million for its first institutional fund in November. The firm was also the global placement agent for Clearwater Capital Partners, which raised $575 million with its fourth fund in July.

Greenhill’s fund placement group currently numbers 32 professionals and is “net larger” now than it was three months ago or a year ago, Taufield said. This is due to recent hires Greenhill has made in Sydney, Chicago, San Francisco and New York, the spokesman said.

Luisa Beltran is a senior writer for peHUB.