Carlyle brings in corporate muscle

The Carlyle Group, the third largest private equity firm in the world according to the PEI 300, has hired Gregory Summe as vice chairman of global buyout. Summe has had an extensive career as a corporate executive and his role at Carlyle – a newly created position – is designed to help steer portfolio companies through tough economic conditions.

“An important lesson of the financial crisis is that operational expertise is critical to both preserving and creating value in a portfolio company,” said Daniel Akerson, Carlyle’s global head of buyout, in a statement. “As a former CEO and leader of multiple businesses, Greg has a track record of business transformation and value creation that will benefit our global buyout portfolio.” Summe will assume his position in October.

He joins Carlyle from Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, where he acted as a senior adviser. Prior to this he spent 11 years at the helm of health services firm PerkinElmer. He also spent a number of years in senior management positions of manufacturing conglomerate AlliedSignal, now known as Honeywell International.

Carlyle’s buyout portfolio comprises 85 businesses, such as BankUnited, the Florida-based bank acquired in May for $900 million, and Freescale Semiconductor, bought for $18 billion in 2006.