Global financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard acquired Verus Partners, an independent financial advisory boutique based in Toronto.

Brian Hanson, co-founder and managing partner of Verus, was named chairman and CEO of Lazard Canada Investment Banking.

“Brian and his team bring to Lazard’s global network a number of Canada’s most experienced and knowledgeable advisors, who have deep relationships with Canada’s leading companies,” said Alex Stern, CEO of Lazard Financial Advisory. “This combination augments the strength of our North American franchise as we continue to focus on growth by investing in our business worldwide.”

“Lazard shares our focus on trusted advice, senior advisor engagement with clients, intellectual capital and the highest standards of integrity and discretion,” said Hanson. “Today we are greatly enhancing the breadth and depth of resources we offer our clients as they seek growth through M&A or other strategic transactions, whether intra-Canada or cross-border.”

Hanson has more than 25 years of Canadian and international advisory experience, having served as vice chairman of CIBC World Markets and co-head of UBS’s M&A group in New York.

Also joining Lazard is Verus co-founder and senior partner Richard Falconer, who was vice chairman of CIBC World Markets, as well as Guy Savard, former chairman of Merrill Lynch Canada and president and CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, who will serve as a senior advisor to Lazard in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.