Goldman loses senior private equity executive

Goldman Sachs is losing one of its senior leaders in private equity, Gerald Cardinale, who is retiring after a 20-year career with the bank. Cardinale is one of three senior executives retiring from the bank's merchant banking group, including Muneer Satter, global co-head of the principal debt team and global head of the mezzanine group.

Cardinale, co-head of Americas private equity in the bank’s merchant banking division, will stay on as a partner until the end of the year, according to an internal memo Goldman sent out last week.

Joining Goldman as an analyst, Cardinale has been responsible for more than $6 billion in investments across a range of industries and investment types, including build-ups, growth capital, start-ups, traditional leveraged buyouts and distressed debt investments, according to the memo.

His investments include Suddenlink Communications, a cable build-up that is the sixth largest cable company in the country, and the take-private of Alliance Atlantis Communications, a Canadian media company. Cardinale also founded the GS Direct investment business, which invested the firm’s capital in minority non-control positions.

Also retiring is Hughes Lepic, head of merchant banking division in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, who helped expand the firm’s private equity, credit and infrastructure business in Europe. During his time at the bank, the principal investment area invested more than $7 billion in private equity deals across Europe. Andrew Wolff will relocate from Hong Kong to London to head the Europe efforts while continuing to co-head the merchant banking division’s Asia Pacific business with Ankur Sahu.

Satter is retiring after 24 years at Goldman. He joined in 1988 and moved to London in 1992, where he headed the firm’s first merchant banking efforts in Europe. He became a managing director and partner in 1996, and in 1997 Satter moved to New York and took over Goldman’s mezzanine efforts.

Satter and his team raised more than $30 billion for the bank’s mezzanine funds.

Tom Connolly will step into the role as sole head of the merchant banking division’s corporate credit business, which includes loans and mezzanine funds. Connolly has co-headed the business with Satter since 2008.

Adrian Jones and Sanjeev Mehra will co-head the Americas Equity business, while Joe DiSabato will continue to head the GS Growth business from San Francisco.