By Anirban Sen
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mark Gerstein, a veteran dealmaker who stepped down from law firm Latham & Watkins in December, has joined PJT Partners (NYSE:PJT) Inc, the investment bank led by Paul Taubman, as a senior adviser.
Gerstein, who spent 27 years at Latham & Watkins and served as the firm's global co-chair of mergers and acquisitions, said he started in his new role earlier this month.
"I was drawn to PJT principally because I found the culture that focuses on client success and genuine teamwork to very much mirror my experience at Latham," Gerstein told Reuters in an interview.
Gerstein counted several Fortune 500 companies as clients during his tenure at Latham & Watkins, and in his new role he is expected to help PJT win new business using his long-time relationships with top companies.
He advised on several big deals, including Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL)'s $28 billion acquisition of Cerner Corp (NASDAQ:CERN) in 2021, and Koch Industries' $22 billion combination with Georgia-Pacific Corp in 2005.
He also advised companies on their interactions with activist shareholders, including Kohls Corp on its defense against Legion Capital and Macellum, and New Relic (NYSE:NEWR) Inc in its discussions with Sachem Head, Engaged Capital and Jana Partners.
Gerstein is not the first dealmaker to switch from a law firm to an investment bank. Rob Kindler, for example, worked at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP for 20 years before becoming a top Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) investment banker.