Lazard Middle Market announced Doug Lawson has joined the firm as a Managing Director and head of Packaging within its Industrials Group.He is based in Chicago.

'Doug has established a national reputation in the packaging sector, having advised on many of the most notable middle market transactions in the sector in recent years,' said Bob Frost, head of the Industrial Group for Lazard Middle Market.

Lawson's investment banking experience include numerous sale and buy-side advisory mandates, leveraged buyouts, and fairness opinions for a wide variety of clients, including private equity groups, public companies, and privately owned businesses.

Prior to joining Lazard, Lawson was a managing director and head of the Packaging Group at BMO Capital Markets in Chicago, where he established and led the firm's M&A and financing practice in the packaging sector. Prior to BMO Capital Markets, he was a principal at Piper Jaffray, where he built an M&A business in the packaging sector. He previously held senior positions at ABN AMRO, Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Company, where he built and headed the project finance group.

Lazard Middle Market, a subsidiary of Lazard Ltd (NYSE:LAZ), provides substantive strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and public and private capital raising to the middle market, serving a diverse set of clients, including private equity, venture capital, entrepreneurs, and public and private companies.