Goldman Poaches Two Credit Suisse Bankers to Expand in Business Services
June 20 2017 - 7:15AM
Dow Jones News
By Liz Hoffman
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is hiring a pair of Credit Suisse Group
AG bankers, including one at the elite rank of partner, to win
business from corporate service providers such as consulting,
staffing and security firms.
Jeff Douthit, who runs Credit Suisse's business-services
coverage group, will join Goldman as a partner in the same role,
according to people familiar with the matter. His deputy, Ali Azim,
will join as a managing director.
Both will be based in Chicago reporting to Dusty Philip,
Goldman's top industrials banker.
Credit Suisse officials weren't immediately available to
comment.
Business services is a grab bag that includes everything from
outsourced janitor services to document management. Goldman's group
also covers consumer-facing companies like ServiceMaster, which
provides local lawn care and exterminator services to
homeowners.
These companies tend to be owned by private-equity firms, which
can borrow against the cash flow the businesses produce and bring
them into new markets.
Such private-equity-backed businesses are highly sought clients,
as they throw off fees when they go private, finance their growth,
and go public or sell again. Goldman has also been trying to win
more work in raising debt, the lifeblood of such companies.
Last year, the firm hired Sarah-Marie Martin, a Credit Suisse
private-equity banker, as a partner in its sponsors group.
The latest hires will also bring two senior bankers to Goldman's
Chicago office, one of several regional hubs it has been beefing up
to ease its reliance on bankers parachuted in from New York. Mr.
Douthit ran Credit Suisse's Chicago office.
Last year, he advised T.H. Lee on its takeover of staffing firm
System One and ABRY Partners on the sale of phone-call translator
LanguageLine.
Goldman rarely hires someone from outside the firm at the rank
of partner. But executives and recruiters say the firm is looking
to hire in senior positions -- even to dangle a coveted slot in its
partnership -- as it fills out weak spots within the
investment-banking division.
Such talent grabs are an acknowledgment that Goldman's overall
strength -- it is first in mergers and acquisitions and top three
in stock sales -- obscures some subsectors where it trails
rivals.
Write to Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 20, 2017 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)
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