Peter Nolan to scale back role at Leonard Green

Nolan joined the highly successful retail investor in 1997 after having worked on several deals with the firm as managing director and co-head of the Los Angeles investment banking division of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (since acquired by Credit Suisse). Prior to that Nolan had been a first vice president in the corporate finance division of high-yield bond specialist Drexel, Burnham, Lambert.

Below is the full text of an email Nolan sent to Buyouts and others announcing his decision:

To My Friends, Partners and Colleagues:

After 17 years at Leonard Green & Partners, I have decided to transition from Managing Partner to Senior Advisor.  This was something I initiated earlier this year, and it has been 100% my decision. I intend to increase my focus on my foundation and other charitable endeavors and to take a more active role in managing my family office.  I will continue to work with my colleagues at Leonard Green as a Senior Advisor. I will maintain an office at LGP, and I will continue to represent the firm and our investors on a number of portfolio boards. 

From my first job on Wall Street in 1982 to my current role at Leonard Green, it has been a humbling privilege to have worked with some of the very best firms in the industry: Drexel Burnham, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, and finally Leonard Green. I am extraordinarily proud to have devoted 17 years to LGP, which has grown assets over 30 fold since I joined.  My fellow Managing Partners, Jon Sokoloff and John Danhakl, have been my brothers in business for the past 28 years since we were first bankers at Drexel Burnham in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s. They possess two of the most brilliant minds in the private equity business, and it has been an honor to work with them to help build Leonard Green into one of the leading private equity firms in the world today. We have built a firm that always places our investors’ interests before our own, and while we’ve grown considerably, we still maintain a family-like culture at Leonard Green. We have been blessed with great employees, loyal investors and opportunities to team with some of the most talented executives in the world at our portfolio companies. Leonard Green’s success is a testament to the collective contribution of all of our stakeholders.   

It’s my hope to remain in contact with many of you as I turn another page on my career.  Again, I want to thank all of you who have supported us throughout the years as I look forward to my next adventure.

Leonard Green, which has raised more than $15 billion since its founding in 1989, closed its latest flagship fund, Green Equity Investors VI LP, at $6.25 billion in 2012. The firm’s portfolio includes investments in BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc, The Container Store Inc and Del Taco Holdings.