Private Equity
Praesidian Capital Europe has hired Serkan Dede and Sarah Pierce as investment directors. Previously, Dede worked at Lloyds Bank where he served as associate director in acquisition finance while Pierce worked at Royal Bank of Scotland's UK structured finance team, recently serving as a director in their origination and execution team for the lower mid-market.
2 min read · 27 October 2014
National Philanthropic Trust has appointed Suzanne Yoon, a managing director for Versa Capital Management, to its board of trustees. Also joining the board are Paul Schreiber of Shearman & Sterling and Rosalyn McPherson, CEO of the Urban League of Philadelphia.
3 min read · 24 October 2014
Like only a Hall of Fame quarterback could do, Steve Young pumped up the audience at our PartnerConnect West conference earlier this month. Here's the video of the QB-turned-private equity pro.
1 min read · 24 October 2014
Sharing wisdom gleaned as a senior executive at HGGC after his years as a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Steve Young told private equity pros to huddle, embrace change and find out how good they could be at the PartnerConnect West conference Oct. 7, 2014.
1 min read · 23 October 2014
Vivonet Inc, a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Marlin Equity, has appointed Alaa Pasha as its new president and CEO, replacing Ryan Volberg, who will remain involved as a shareholder and advisor. Prior to joining the company, Pasha was a senior executive at Red Book Connect, and before then he was president and CEO of MacromatiX. Based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Vivonet is a point of sale solutions provider to the restaurant industry. It was acquired by Marlin in late 2012.
3 min read · 23 October 2014
Hastings, a global infrastructure manager headquartered in Australia, has made three hires. The firm has added Antonio Botija and Daniel Lee to its global investments team in London and New York, respectively. Also, Anne-Noelle Le Gal has joined the firm's global asset management team in London. Previously, Botija worked at Infracapital Partners, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Investments while Lee was an investment banking analyst in the Goldman Sachs public sector and infrastructure group. And prior to Hastings, Le Gal worked at Core Capital.
4 min read · 23 October 2014
NYLON Media, which is backed by Diversis Capital, said Thursday that Paul Greenberg was named its CEO effective immediately. NYLON Media publishes magazines including NYLON and FashionIndie.com.
3 min read · 23 October 2014
Hamilton “Tony” James, president and COO of The Blackstone Group, said he was not surprised that a recent dog abuse case spurred a national outcry against a private equity firm and its portfolio company. “Animal rights people are some of the most aggressive” of activist groups, James said on the sidelines of the PartnerConnect LP-GP Summit in New York, sponsored by peHUB and Thomson Reuters. James, who spoke during a keynote Thursday, said his prior firm, DLJ Merchant Banking, once owned Charles River Laboratories, which breeds animals for pharmaceutical testing. “We got bomb threats all the time,” James told peHUB. Social media recently has publicized bad acts committed by members of the PE industry. In August, Centerplate Inc CEO Desmond Hague was caught on a hotel video abusing a cowering dog. The video went viral and the ensuing backlash included calls for Hague to be fired, threatened boycotts of Centerplate, and death threats against the CEO and executives of Centerplate’s sponsor, Olympus Partners. Hague resigned on Sept. 2. SeaWorld Entertainment, a Blackstone portfolio company, also saw its stock plunge in August. “Blackfish,” a documentary released in 2013 that highlights SeaWorld’s treatment of killer whales, has spurred a backlash against the company that has affected the company’s earnings. When asked if Centerplate waited too long to oust Hague, James said he wasn’t that familiar with the situation. “What kind of person beats their dog?” he said. “I’m not that sympathetic either.” James didn’t comment on the Blackfish controversy. Instead, he recalled how SeaWorld penguins visited the Blackstone offices when the portfolio company went public in 2013. Publicity from the visit, which included cuddly photos of SeaWorld penguins running around the firm’s offices, softened Blackstone’s image, James said. “It made us look friendly… can be very useful tool for getting stuff out as well.” James, during his keynote, said the world had changed in the last seven to eight years “when we all went public.” The PE industry used to be private and “didn’t get a lot of attention.” Blackstone executives are now “very mindful” that they are “public figures,” he said. “We get watched…Private birthday parties become causes célèbres. We try to be careful. We make mistakes.” By Luisa Beltran, peHUB This story first appeared on peHUB on Sept. 19, 2014: https://admin.pehub.com/2014/09/blackstones-james-we-are-public-figures/
1 min read · 22 October 2014
NYLON Media, which is backed by Diversis Capital, has named Paul Greenberg as CEO. The appointment is effective immediately. Greenberg is the former CEO of CollegeHumor. Based in New York City, NYLON Media is a magazine publisher and digital media firm.
3 min read · 22 October 2014
Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School, delivers a keynote address entitled "The Best of Times or the Worst of Times? PE at a Crossroads" at the LP-GP Summit on Sept. 18, 2014. Lerner is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking Unit Head at HBS.
1 min read · 22 October 2014
