Financial Services Veteran Gene Lockhart Joins Berenson & Company as a Senior Advisor

NEW YORK, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Berenson & Company, a leading independent investment banking firm, today announced that Gene Lockhart has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor. Mr. Lockhart, a highly accomplished investor and senior executive with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, will have a senior leadership position at Berenson & Company providing advice, counsel and expertise to the firm. He will work closely with Berenson & Company's senior professionals to further develop the firm's advisory and principal activities, with a particular focus on financial services.

Throughout his extensive career, Mr. Lockhart has held a number of leadership positions with high-profile financial institutions including President and CEO of MasterCard International; President of the Global Retail Bank at Bank of America; and CEO of Midland Bank PLC.  He has also served as President of AT&T's Consumer Services.

"Gene is an exceptional financial services visionary and a distinguished leader who has held the Chief Executive role at some of the most prominent companies in the financial world," said Jeffrey L. Berenson, President and CEO of Berenson & Company.  "We are pleased to welcome him and his deep financial services experience to the firm."

"Berenson & Company's extensive advisory and execution capabilities provide the firm's private and public clients the perfect mix of counsel and analysis to yield the highest-quality result," said Lockhart. "That ongoing commitment combined with the firm's culture of deep senior executive leadership and strong relationships across the corporate and financial community, makes it a natural fit for my background as an investor and executive in financial services."

Mr. Lockhart remains a Venture Partner at Oak Investment Partners and an Operating Partner and Chairman of Financial Institutions with Diamond Castle Holdings.  Mr. Lockhart has served on the boards of directors for a number of public and private companies, including RJR / Nabisco, MasterCard, First Republic Bank, RadioShack Corp and Huron Consulting Group, among others.

Mr. Lockhart has also been involved in a number of philanthropic causes as board member of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (Chairman), The Royal Academy of Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, University of Virginia Board of Managers (Chairman) and University of Virginia Darden School Foundation (Chairman).  Lockhart has an M.B.A. and B.S., both from the University of Virginia.

About Berenson & Company (www.berensonco.com)

Founded in 1990, Berenson & Company is an independent investment banking firm that provides high quality financial advice to a broad range of public and private corporations, financial institutions, equity sponsors and entrepreneurs.  The firm's investment banking capabilities include a comprehensive suite of traditional mergers & acquisitions advisory, public and private financings of debt and equity, leveraged and management buyouts, Board advisory services including fairness opinions and valuations, counsel regarding proxy contests and takeover defense, divestitures and exclusive sales, financial restructuring and recapitalizations, and capital structure advisory.  Its business philosophy is characterized by an objective, client-focused approach toward developing long-term relationships and creative problem-solving.

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SOURCE Berenson & Company