Lazard is launching a Capital Solutions division, meant to focus on advising companies on ways to raise money, such as preferred stock and convertible debt, according to a memo seen Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal.
Tim Donahue, Lazard’s vice chairman of investment banking, will become the global head of the unit and oversee the bank’s ties with large U.S.-based private-equity firms, according to the memo. Donahue joined Lazard last year after serving two years as vice chair of capital markets at JPMorgan Chase, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Devoting a full unit to capital-raising “will bolster our comprehensive range of capital-raising solutions, establish better communication between Lazard and our largest buy-side clients, and ensure market intelligence is collected and distributed expeditiously internally, where appropriate,” the bank’s CEO-in-waiting, Peter Orszag, said in the memo.
Capital-markets deals are often outside the purview of boutique firms such as Lazard because they don’t have underwriting capability.
But investment banks, which have seen a roughly 40% slump in deal volume over the first half of 2023, are looking for ways to fatten revenue and diversify.
