British private equity firm 3i Group has said Jonathan Russell, one of its top dealmakers, would leave as part of a shake up that will combine two of its key divisions. Russel, who as head of buyouts was responsible for over $6.5bn) worth of funds, had been with the firm for 24 years and is a former chairman of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

His departure was announced as part of a revamp that will see his buyout team combined with its Growth Capital division which specialises in taking minority stakes in businesses rather than buying them outright.

“Our sector teams have been working increasingly together across our buyouts and growth businesses for some time. So this is a logical step and one which we think will make us even more effective in the market,” 3i Chief Executive Michael Queen said in a statement.

The company said the two divisions would now be run as a single private equity unit with a regional approach to investment decisions.

Under the new structure its other main division will be Infrastructure and the company said it continued to explore expansion into new areas such as debt management.