LionTree hires Luther from Morgan Stanley to lead tech dealmaking push

By Milana Vinn

(Reuters) – LionTree, the boutique investment bank led by prolific dealmaker Aryeh Bourkoff, has hired investment banker Ankur Luther from Morgan Stanley as it looks to capture more fees from advising on technology deals.

Luther, who joined LionTree this week and will be based in New York, will spearhead its efforts to win more market share from technology investment banking, a spokesperson for the bank told Reuters.

Primarily focused on dealmaking in the media and entertainment industries, LionTree is attempting to compete better against rival boutique banks such as Moelis (NYSE:), Lazard (NYSE:), PJT Partners (NYSE:), and Qatalyst Partners and win more high-profile deal mandates.

LionTree is looking to further bolster its technology deals business in the coming months by recruiting more top bankers who have experience in advising on deals in sectors such as software and internet.

In his new role, Luther will work closely with LionTree’s other senior technology dealmakers, co-founder Ehren Stenzler and ex-UBS banker Antal Runneboom.

Luther previously spent more than 15 years at Morgan Stanley, where he worked on several high-profile mergers and acquisitions in the technology sector, including Red Hat’s $34 billion sale to IBM (NYSE:) in 2018, Microsoft (NASDAQ:)’s $26.2 billion takeover of LinkedIn in 2016, and GitHub’s $7.5 billion sale to Microsoft in 2018.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Luther had stints at Goldman Sachs and IBM, according to his LinkedIn profile.

New York-based LionTree was launched in 2012 by Bourkoff and Stenzler, who were both senior bankers at UBS Group. Since its founding, LionTree has grown to become a prolific advisor to large media and telecommunications companies and has worked on several landmark deals involving the likes of AT&T (NYSE:), Charter Communications (NASDAQ:), and Verizon Communications (NYSE:).

LionTree has advised on more than 270 transactions worth more than $800 billion. It recently advised on the $13.1 billion takeover by Blackstone (NYSE:) and Permira of online classifieds company Adevinta, MGM’s $8.45 billion sale to Amazon.com (NASDAQ:), and the sale of information technology firm Presidio to buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

LionTree was among the banks that worked on DirecTV’s deal to buy EchoStar’s satellite television business including Dish TV in September.