Napier Park hires commercial finance veteran Joseph Lane

Napier Park Global Capital, a New York alternative assets management firm, has appointed commercial finance veteran Joseph Lane to join the firm as a managing director in its private equity group where he will lead its real assets investment operations, a firm official told Private Equity International.

Lane, a former chairman of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association, brings senior commercial finance experience to the firm's Napier Park Financial Partners private equity unit, where he will join a team of six investment professionals. His experience includes serving as president of IBM Credit and CEO of GATX Capital. Lane also co-founded an investment partnership named Sinter Partners.

Lane's hire comes a year after Napier Park's private equity group hired former Security Benefit vice president and ex-Berkley Capital financial services and financial technology investment professional Dan Kittredge joined as a managing director in July 2014.

“Joe Lane has joined us to lead our investment efforts across real assets, including our railcar, aircraft and other programs that we're planning to expand into in the future,” said Steven Piaker, a managing director at Napier Park Financial Partners. “He brings considerable leadership experience from some of the largest commercial finance companies as he will help to lead the charge in the growth of our real assets business.”

Napier Park's private equity group oversees two investment platforms with single purpose funds, focused specifically on investing in leased railcars and leased commercial aircraft. The firm's $370 million 2013-vintage Napier Park Railcar Lease Fund, which it formed through a joint venture with Dallas-based Trinity Industries, is fully invested. The vehicle has ownership interests in 25,000 leased railcars.

Separately, the group is investing equity capital out of its 2015-vintage $454 million Blackbird Capital I fund, which Napier Park formed through a joint venture with California's Air Lease to invest in leased airplanes. The Michigan Department of Treasury is a limited partner in the Blackbird fund, which is seeking to amass $2 billion in commercial aircraft assets, according to PEI Research & Analytics.

“For us it's really about finding attractive underlying assets through forming partnerships with operating partners that bring a durable edge and unique access to these assets,” Piaker said.