I Squared US investment head resigns after flagship fund close

Lefebvre’s departure comes after a series of exits from the firm in recent months, including Chucri Hjeily, who led the firm’s Latin America focus and resigned recently.

I Squared Capital, which just closed its third flagship fund on $15 billion, lost its head of US investments, Thomas Lefebvre, who resigned this week, sources told Buyouts.

An I Squared spokesperson confirmed the departure. The departure was not planned, and limited partners were informed of the departure this week, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Senior-level departures that come shortly after the closing of a new fund raise red flags among fund investors, who have committed capital backing a management team they expect to be on board for the duration of the fund life.

In this case, Lefebvre’s departure did not trigger a key-person provision in the funds. I Squared’s key-person group involves its trio of managing partners, Sadek Wahba, Gautam Bhandari and Adil Rahmathulla. The investment period on Fund III would be automatically suspended if any two of the three managing partners left, according to a summary of Fund III terms from Meketa Investment Group for Connecticut treasury.

Lefebvre’s departure comes after a series of exits from the firm in recent months, including Chucri Hjeily, who led the firm’s Latin America focus and resigned recently, according to people with knowledge of the firm.

Other leavers include Tom Murray, a managing director on I Squared’s infrastructure credit division; Mark Clark, a principal at the firm and Daniel Fein, a vice president.

Meanwhile, the firm has made a series of hires and promotions, with 19 new people in the past six months, according to the person with knowledge of the firm. I Squared is planning to hire 40 employees this year, the person said.

The firm also promoted Andreas Moon to partner, and Chenhua Shen and Enrico Del Prete to fund partners. It recently hired Damian Darragh as fund partner covering renewables and energy transition in the US and Europe, and Tito Vidaurri as senior policy adviser focusing on Mexican investments and Latin America broadly, the person said.

Earlier this month, the firm announced the closing of its third flagship infrastructure fund, ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund III, at its $15 billion hard cap, beating its target of $12 billion. The GP commitment and a pool for co-investments bring the total to $15.5 billion.