Lazard has hired veteran Citigroup investment banker Chris Miller as a managing director to help drive its dealmaking efforts in the energy industry, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Miller, who is based in Houston and held the title of vice chairman of energy investment banking at Citigroup, resigned from his position at the Wall Street bank recently and will start his new role at Lazard in early 2025 after a period of gardening leave, the sources said.

In his new role, Miller will report to George Bilicic, who runs Lazard's power, energy, and infrastructure investment banking unit, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the matter is confidential.

Miller, a 30-year investment banking veteran, spent the majority of his career at Citigroup where he advised energy companies on notable deals including APA Corp's $4.5 billion acquisition of Callon Petroleum. Prior to Citigroup, Miller worked at Lehman Brothers, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Lazard and Citigroup declined to comment.

Lazard's push to boost its energy dealmaking ranks follows a record-breaking run of mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. energy industry, driven by consolidation among oil and gas producers that have pursued targets with the best drilling sites in lucrative shale locations such as the Permian Basin.

New York-based Lazard has been bolstering its financial advisory unit with several top-level recruits, as dealmaking across sectors has started to rebound in recent months after a period of slower M&A activity due to higher interest rates and market volatility.

In its third-quarter earnings report, the bank said it added 16 managing directors to its ranks in the year to Oct. 31, with revenue from the financial advisory unit up 39% during the quarter from the same period a year ago.

(Reporting by David French in New York Editing by Mark Potter)