NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Greenhill & Co. rose Friday, after a Wachovia Securities analyst lifted his rating on the independent investment banking firm, saying he's less concerned about it losing marketshare in the U.S. to larger firms because its picking up more business overseas.

On March 21, when Douglas Sipkin cut his rating on Greenhill to "Market Perform" from "Outperform," he said private equity firms gravitate to larger, so called "bulge bracket" firms for merger and acquisition advice because they tend to offer other services such as financing that Greenhill does not. Also, the potential for private equity initial public offerings could hurt the investment appeal of Greenhill's GCP I and GCP II funds, he said at the time.

While Sipkin said his concerns are still true to an extent, he said in Friday's note that the company's European business appears to be improving because of rules that shut out some larger competitors.

Sipkin reversed his investment opinion on Greenhill Friday, upgrading the shares to "Outperform" from "Market Perform."

Greenhill shares rose $3.80, or 5.8 percent to $69.20 in afternoon trading.

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Source: AP Financial News