The LFI Levered Lines Podcast From Distress to Opportunity: Insights on Capital Convergence with Lazard's Tim Donahue
May 6, 2025
Tim Donahue, Vice Chairman at Lazard and former CFO at Alterra Mountain Company, shares insights from his impressive finance career. He discusses the transformative shift in capital markets, highlighting the merging of public and private realms. The conversation touches on how distressed investors are evolving into comprehensive solution providers, adapting to new financial landscapes. Tim reflects on the growing importance of private capital, emphasizing innovative strategies for restructuring and mergers in a fluctuating economy.
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Tim Donahue's Career Journey
- Tim Donahue shared his varied career path through law, J.P. Morgan, Blackstone, a CFO role, and Lazard.
- These experiences shaped his broad capital markets perspective and advisory approach at Lazard.
Building Holistic Capital Solutions
- Tim built Lazard's capital solutions business to be a holistic, unconflicted advisor across debt and equity.
- It focuses on complex, stressed, or private deals needing bespoke capital structuring beyond vanilla markets.
Capital Markets Evolution Over 20 Years
- The growth of CLOs, private second liens, and private credit transformed capital markets over 20 years.
- Sponsors and lenders adapted by combining desks and moving deals in-house, responding to new financing preferences.