Lazard Adds Two Restructuring Heads As Corporate Distress Grows

Lazard Ltd. is adding two new co-heads to its restructuring and capital solutions group as the investment bank grows its team during a time of increased financial turmoil.

(Bloomberg) — Lazard Ltd. is adding two new co-heads to its restructuring and capital solutions group as the investment bank grows its team during a time of increased financial turmoil.

The New York-based investment bank has hired Sanjeev Khemlani, who most recently led FTI Consulting Inc.’s senior lender advisory practice, and Reid Snellenbarger, a senior member of Houlihan Lokey ’s restructuring group, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg.

Both will be co-heads of Lazard’s restructuring practice for North America, joining Tyler Cowan and Brandon Aebersold. Representatives for for FTI and Houlihan declined to comment.

Khemlani, based in New York, spent more than a decade at FTI, where he advised senior secured lenders to charter bus company Coach America and ice hockey team New Jersey Devils. He earlier held roles at Blackstone Inc.’s credit arm and Credit Suisse Group AG.

Snellenbarger, who is based in Chicago, served as investment banker for former blog publisher Gawker Media Group Inc. in the $135 million sale of its sites to Univision Holdings Inc. in 2016. He also advised bankrupt mortgage servicer Ditech Holding Corp., which won approval in 2019 for a $1.8 billion sale of its businesses.

Lazard is adding to its restructuring group at a time when many investors are bracing for an uptick in corporate defaults and bankruptcy filings. Around $300 billion of bonds and loans in the Americas trade at distressed levels, near the highest level since mid 2020.

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