Co-head of U.S. sales Mike Ireland leaves First Avenue

Mike Ireland, a partner at placement agency First Avenue Partners, left the firm recently, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Ireland was a partner and co-head of Americas sales, according to his LinkedIn profile. He started at the firm in 2012 as a principal and was promoted in 2014. Prior to First Avenue, Ireland worked as a managing director at Mallory Capital Group and was a principal at Newbury Partners.

An email to Ireland’s First Avenue addressed bounced back with a note saying Ireland no longer works at the firm. It’s not clear when or why he left.

His exit comes on the heels of the departure of Stephen Hines, president at First Avenue’s U.S. business, who left the firm sometime last year.

First Avenue has built up the principal ranks in New York over the past year or so. Principals hired within the past year or two include Mike Taylor, who joined in January 2015 from Greenhill & Co; Brian Price, who joined in August 2014 from Highland Capital Management; Patricia Chalian, who joined in March 2015 from Forbes Private Capital Group; and Robert Bilse, who joined in June 2015 from Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group.

The firm also opened a Hong Kong office in November led by Partner Michael Henningsen, who joined from Park Hill Group to lead the new office.

Action Item: Learn more about First Avenue Partners here: http://www.firstavenue.com/

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock: http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-1115570p1.html