It was towards the end of last September that I was told by two investment bankers at Goldman Sachs that Joe Perella might be setting up a specialist M&A firm. I was sceptical. Surely Perella was rich enough and, at his age, did he need the hassle of building a new business?

Then there would be the publicity. Perella has never been over-enamoured with the media, unlike his former partner Bruce Wasserstein, chief executive of Lazard, who viewed every day as another opportunity to have his name in lights.