Sullivan Steps Down As Co-Head Of Lazard Placement Group: UPDATED

London-based Sullivan, together with Managing Director William Riddle in New York, have been co-heads of what’s formally called the Private Fund Advisory Group at Lazard since early 2003 when they launched the business for the investment bank. Previously they and other founding members of the group had been executives in the fund placement group at Merrill Lynch & Co. Buyouts was unable to reach Sullivan for comment.

Sullivan has concentrated his efforts largely on the deal management side of the group, which raises private equity and real estate funds on behalf of sponsors and advises investors on secondary sales of limited partnership interests. In that role he has worked closely with sponsors to structure offering materials and managing their fundraises. Riddle, who will be sole head of the group going forward, spends much of his time on the road pitching funds to institutional investors in the United States, the Middle East and Asia, a source said; Riddle is also involved in securing new business.

Lazard has no immediate plans to replace Sullivan, a source said, but the firm has recently been beefing up its deal management team in the United States and its deal management and secondary advisory staff in London. Other key executives in the group include Managing Directors Holcombe Green, Daniel Rudgers and Michael Sutka. The group also has an office in Chicago, but no longer has a presence in Hong Kong following the departure earlier this year of Managing Director David Timblick, now at Houlihan Lokey.

Lazard’s Private Fund Advisory Group, which fields one of the larger fund placement teams in the industry, raises money around the world for sponsors pursuing a variety of investment strategies, including buyouts, real estate, growth equity, turnarounds, venture capital, mezzanine and debt investing. At any given time the group might be raising eight to 12 private equity funds and five to seven real estate funds. Secondary advisory is the fastest-growing part of its business, a source said. Sponsor clients include Kohlberg & Co., which earlier this year wrapped up its Fund VII at $1.6 billion; Equistone Partners Europe, which earlier this year finished a Fund IV at €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion); and Roark Capital, which last year closed a third fund at $1.5 billion.

(Update: This story was updated from the original to add sourcing and to state it’s not immediately clear why Sullivan is stepping down.)