PL Advisors is the new name for Grail Advisory Partners, a global money management and financial services M&A advisory boutique, said Domonkos L. Koltai, partner and co-founder.
The name change, announced Monday, was made to differentiate the firm and its services from merchant bank Grail Partners, which focuses on private equity investing in the financial services industry, said Mr. Koltai in an interview. It spun off from Grail Partners last June.
“It was always our intention to change names,” he said. “It wasn't exactly misunderstandings between the two firms, but sometimes people might go to the wrong website, things like that. At the time of the spinoff, we weren't sure what brand to use.”
The name PL Advisors was chosen to “make a connection” with Putnam Lovell, Mr. Koltai said. He and fellow partner and co-founder, Colette R. Taylor, worked together at investment bank Putnam Lovell and later at Grail Partners. “It's the connection (with their past firm) that we like to make, but clearly we're not Putnam Lovell,” he said. Putnam Lovell was acquired by Jefferies & Co. in 2007 and the brand name was phased out in 2010.
Connections between Grail Partners and PL Advisors remain. Donald H. Putnam, managing partner of Grail Partners and co-founder of Putnam Lovell, is chairman of PL Advisors.
PL Advisors has main offices in New York and Geneva.
