Lazard buys Campbell Lutyens in $575mn deal to scale private-capital advisory
Source · Banking desk
— Summary
Lazard has agreed to buy private capital advisory group Campbell Lutyens in a $575mn deal, with a potential additional $85mn performance-based payment. The 178-year-old US investment bank's existing private capital advisory team and London-based Campbell Lutyens — founded in 1988 — will combine into a new division called **Lazard CL**. The deal, first reported by Bloomberg, lands as private markets boom and as private equity, credit, infrastructure and real estate funds increasingly need advice on the more complicated transactions that have emerged from a prolonged downturn in dealmaking.
The combined unit is expected to generate roughly **$500mn in 2027 revenue** with **more than 280 advisers across 18 offices** globally. Over the past two years, the two firms together have advised on more than **$100bn in secondary transaction volume** and have raised **more than $190bn**. Campbell Lutyens specialises in fundraising and secondaries — including the increasingly common deals where limited partners sell stakes to other buyers, or where firms sell portfolio companies to new funds they themselves manage to generate liquidity. Both transaction types boomed because traditional exits via M&A and IPO have stalled.
Industry participants told the FT the secondary-market explosion is a natural consequence of the broader expansion of private markets, which grew from **$14tn in 2020 to $24tn in AUM last year**. As more companies stay private for longer, alternative routes to liquidity become structurally important. "I am excited to partner with Gordon and our exceptional senior leadership group and teams to build a global platform that sets the standard for excellence in private capital advisory," said Holcombe Green, head of private capital advisory at Lazard. Lazard CEO Peter Orszag is positioning the firm where the fee pool is growing fastest within Wall Street advisory. Source: Financial Times, 30 April 2026, Alexandra Heal.
Lazard buys Campbell Lutyens in $575mn deal to scale private-capital advisory
The story in one line: Lazard is buying Campbell Lutyens for $575mn (plus $85mn earnout) to merge it into the new “Lazard CL” division, targeting $500mn of 2027 revenue and 280+ advisers across 18 offices.
Key numbers
Deal value: $575mn, plus a potential $85mn performance-based payment
Campbell Lutyens founded 1988; Lazard founded 178 years ago
Why it matters
The fee pool in private-capital advisory has shifted decisively toward secondaries — both LP-led (limited partners selling stakes to other buyers) and GP-led (firms recycling portfolio companies into new funds they themselves manage). With M&A exits stalled and IPO windows fragile, secondaries have become the dominant liquidity mechanism. Lazard plus Campbell Lutyens turn into a pole large enough to compete head-on with Evercore, Jefferies and Houlihan Lokey on the most prestigious mandates.
The macro number — private markets going from $14tn to $24tn AUM in four years — is the structural tailwind. As more companies stay private for longer, the advisory layer monetising the resulting plumbing grows roughly in line with assets, but at higher margins than traditional M&A.
Takeaway
For Lazard, the deal is the clearest signal yet that CEO Peter Orszag is reshaping the franchise around the highest-growth advisory niches rather than defending traditional M&A market share. For investors in alternative-asset platforms (Blackstone, KKR, EQT, Ares), the rise of organised secondaries advisers is a sign their LPs increasingly need a path to liquidity — a structural marker on how to read the next few quarters of fund-raising news.
Source: Financial Times, 30 April 2026, Alexandra Heal.