Goldman Sachs Group Inc has named Pete Lyon as co-head of its business that caters to private equity and hedge fund clients in the Americas, according to an internal memo distributed Thursday morning.

Lyon, who first joined the bank as an analyst in 1990, will lead Goldman's financial sponsors group in the Americas with co-head Alison Mass, according to the memo obtained by Reuters.

Lyon's promotion follows news that Milton Berlinski, a veteran banker and partner at Goldman, will be retiring as global head of the financial sponsors group this year.

Lyon has been working in debt capital markets since joining Goldman and has been managing relationships with private equity clients in the financial sponsors group since 2000.

He spent two years in Dubai leading the Middle East and North Africa division before relocating to New York in 2010 to lead client coverage strategy.

(Reporting By Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Richard Chang)

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