EXCLUSIVE: John Kim leaves Court Square Capital for Kelso

A spokesperson for Court Square emailed the following statement to Buyouts:  “John Kim is leaving Court Square after nine years with the firm. He has accepted a position as head of investor relations for Kelso & Company. We wish him well and appreciate his contributions to our very successful fundraise last year.  As John transitions over the next few weeks, Kristen Dobbs, who is a member of Court Square’s Investor Relations team, will handle our investor relations activities on an interim basis.”

Kim, who joined Court Square Capital in 2004, has most recently been head of investor relations, co-investment syndication and marketing. Prior to that Kim ran the investor relations and marketing department for Capital Z Investments.

Court Square Capital closed its latest fund,  Court Square Capital Partners III LP, last year in the neighborhood of $3 billion, according to Private Equity International. Over its history the firm has invested more than $4.5 billion in more than 150 transactions, according to its website; industries favored include business services, healthcare, industrials, media, publishing, technology and telecom.

Kelso & Co. raised $5.1 billion for its vintage 2007 Kelso Investment Associates VIII LP, according to Thomson One. The firm plans to target $2.5 billion to $3 billion for its next buyout fund, according to a recent article by Bloomberg.

Buyouts was unable to reach an executive at Kelso for comment.