Goldman’s secondary advisory head departs – updated

The head of Goldman Sachs‘s secondary advisory has departed the firm, less than 18 months after joining.

Alex Mejia is going to mid-market investment bank Baird to lead the buildout of a secondary advisory team, according to six sources with knowledge of the matter. Baird confirmed that he will start after a period of gardening leave.

“The Secondary Advisory market continues to be a key area of focus for Goldman and under my continued leadership, we anticipate growing our capabilities in this space and continuing to provide a differentiated service offering that leverages the full breadth of our leading Investment Banking franchise,” said partner David Kamo in a written statement.

Mejia joined Goldman as a managing director in May last year to work on single- and double-asset continuation fund deals, after five-and-a-half years at Lazard, Secondaries Investor reported. He brought across Spencer Gyory from Lazard and Josef Menasche from Campbell Lutyens as vice-presidents.

Goldman had dabbled in the secondary advisory business prior to Mejia’s arrival. In 2020, it co-advised on a single-asset deal centred on Thomas H Lee Partners’ portfolio company HighTower Advisors. It advised alongside Evercore to avoid a conflict of interest with Goldman’s Vintage secondaries business, which led the deal on the buy-side.

Secondaries Investor reported in June 2021 that Baird had formed a capital advisory team whose mandate included secondaries. Gavin Kolt, a 10-year veteran of Moelis & Company, joined as head of equity capital advisory alongside head of debt capital advisory Anne-Marie Peterson.

The Milwaukee-headquartered bank advises corporations, entrepreneurs, private equity and venture capital firms across M&A, debt and equity. It is one of several mid-market banks to enter the secondary advisory space in the past 18 months, including William Blair, Raymond James and DC Advisory, Secondaries Investor has reported.

Article updated with comment from Goldman Sachs