Mercury Capital founder Pardee departs firm to go in-house

Alan Pardee, one of three managing partners who spun out of Merrill Lynch's private fund placement team in 2009, will leave the firm on Sunday.

Mercury Capital Advisors‘ Alan Pardee, a veteran of real estate fundraising, is leaving the firm he founded after spinning out of Merrill Lynch more than a decade ago.

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Pardee: Excited to help Valor grow further

Pardee’s last day at the placement agent and advisory firm will be on Sunday. He is set to join Valor Equity Partners – a firm he and Mercury have raised several private equity funds for – on September 1 as a managing director focusing on external relations and will be based in New York.

“After a successful 22 years as a placement agent and after the sale of Mercury to Investcorp, I started thinking a little bit differently about how I want to spend my time,” Pardee told sister title Private Equity International.

“I decided that the right next chapter for me would be to go in-house to a team that I know well. I’ve worked with Valor across a number of fundraisings and have known the team for a very long time.”

Pardee founded Mercury alongside Michael Ricciardi and Enrique Cuan when Merrill Lynch’s private fund placement team spun out in 2009. The trio have remained the firm’s managing partners. In real estate, he has led fundraises for Alpha Investment Partners, Madison International Realty, Walton Street Capital, daVinci Japan Real Estate Partners, Europa Capital Partners, Och-Ziff Real Estate (now Sculptor Real Estate), according to Mercury’s website.

In May last year, Bahrain-headquartered Investcorp acquired 100 percent of Mercury. Four representatives from Investcorp were to join Mercury’s board of directors post-acquisition, with Mercury’s management team continuing to run the business. The acquisition brought more than 50 fundraisers across 14 offices into Investcorp, which aims to grow its AUM to $50 billion.

Chicago-headquartered Valor is seeking $1.25 billion for Valor Equity Partners V and had raised $1.02 billion as of early July, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm invests in growth and early stage companies, according to its website.

“I’ve seen Valor grow over time and I’ve been impressed with their investments – the great operating skill that they bring to the companies they invest in and that welcome their investments,” Pardee said.

“We have worked with them on a number of fundraising, I’ve known them for a very long time and I’m delighted to be joining them. I’m excited to help them grow further.”

A spokesman for Mercury declined to comment.