Brunswick Group senior partner Steven Lipin announced that he’s leaving the global M&A PR advisor after nearly 16 years.

Steven Lipin Steven Lipin

In a Friday statement, Lipin, who led Brunswick’s New York office and was responsible for the growth of the advisory firm’s practice in the U.S., said his departure “reflects a desire on my part to do something different,” and announced that he plans to start his own firm.

The former Wall Street Journal finance editor, who’s been stationed with Brunswick since 2001, said that his new venture would focus on critical communications, M&A, activism defense and C-suite corporate issues.

“I am blessed and humbled to have worked with an amazing group of professionals who are passionate about their work and doing our very best for our clients. When I came here from the Wall Street Journal, I expected nothing but the same high standards and expectations of excellence that were expected at the Journal. And that is what I found at Brunswick,” Lipin said in the statement.

“I wish the firm and my colleagues the very best as they go from strength to strength,” Lipin continued. “It has been a privilege working at the firm for the past 16 years.”