On the move, 9.12.2016 – KKR makes bevy of moves

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Cambridge Cos hired David Patton as a managing partner. Patton is former president and CEO of Bluewater Cos and a former executive at Citigroup.

Cold Mountain Capital named Anthony Bergen chief financial officer. Bergen previously worked at Cold Mountain’s sister company Stony Point Group Inc. He was also CFO at TECT Power, a Stony Point affiliate.

Hamilton Lane named Lydia A. Gavalis deputy general counsel. Gavalis previously worked at SEI. In addition, Fred Shaw, former compliance director, becomes chief compliance officer.

Hidden Harbor Capital Partners appointed Ken Trent operating partner. Trent, formerly president and owner of Professional Power Products, will oversee industrial businesses.

Hilltop Private Capital LLC’s Katherine A. Lehman, a managing partner, was named to the board of Stella-Jones, the Saint-Laurent, Quebec, wood-products provider.

J.W. Childs Associates hired Philippe Schenk, a former executive at Grove Street Advisors, as managing director. Schenk will lead investor relations. The firm also tapped Kyle Casella as a vice president. Casella formerly was at Weston Presidio, focused on consumer/retail and business services. J.W. Childs also hired Jess Yuan, former investment-banking analyst at Deloitte Corporate Finance, as an analyst.

KKR said David Liu, co-head of Asia private equity and head of China, and Julian Wolhardt, a member, are leaving at year’s end to form a new China-focused investment firm. They will transition to KKR Advisors beginning in 2017. Ming Lu, a member of KKR and co-head of Asia PE, was named sole head of Asia private equity. Lu will serve as interim head of China until KKR names a successor. Ashish Shastry was named head of Southeast Asia and member of KKR, Singapore. And three managing directors were named: Zhen Ji  for China, Hyoung Seok Lim for Korea and Rob Yang for real estate, China.

KKR’s Pillarstone appointed Paul Bramley chief operating officer, strengthening the U.S. PE firm’s platform that manages underperforming bank assets in Europe.

LLR Partners hired Ryan Goldenberg as a vice president for its financial services team, a source at the firm said. He previously served in the private growth equity capital practice at Houlihan Lokey. Goldenberg also was an associate at both Updata Partners and Kamylon Capital.

Pantheon hired Dinesh Ramasamy and Samayita Das as vice presidents on the infrastructure and real assets team. Ramasamy joined the firm from Goldman Sachs and Das from J.P. Morgan.

Pharos Capital Group named James S. Kerrigan and Kevin A. Ryan senior financial analysts. Kerrigan will be based in Dallas and Ryan in Nashville.

TPG tapped Sanghoon Lee as a partner responsible for leading the firm’s Asia investment activities in South Korea. Lee most recently was managing director and head of Korea for Morgan Stanley Private Equity.

Triloma Financial Group named Amy Gunter vice president of due diligence for Triloma Securities and Jeff Karansky vice president and portfolio manager for Triloma Energy Advisors. Gunter is former director of due diligence and direct investments at ProEquities Inc while Karansky previously served as lead energy analyst at DePrince, Race & Zollo.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Benihana Inc, which is backed by Angelo, Gordon & Co, appointed Thomas J. Baldwin president and CEO. Baldwin is former chairman, president and CEO of Morton’s Restaurant Group. Based in Aventura, Florida, Benihana operates Japanese Teppanyaki and Sushi restaurants with 100 outlets nationwide.

Encore Rehabilitation Services LLC, backed by Revelstoke Capital Partners LLC, appointed Eric A. Shuey to the board. Shuey previously was chief financial officer at Liberty Dialysis Holdings. Based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Encore provides rehabilitative therapy services and associated compliance and revenue cycle support services for nursing facilities, assisted-living facilities, home health agencies, hospitals and schools.

Imedex, which is owned by Vesey Street Capital Partners LLC, named Dan Lowrie CEO. Previously, Lowrie served as senior vice president of spend operations at MedAssets. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, Imedex provides continuing medical education for healthcare professionals.

Symphogen named Martin Olin CEO. Olin, currently CFO, succeeds  Kirsten Drejer, who becomes an independent director.  Symphogen, the Copenhagen biopharmaceutical company, is backed by investors including Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Novo AS, PKA, Sunstone Capital, Gilde Healthcare Partners, Danica Pension, Takeda Ventures and Genentech.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Context Summits, a producer of investment summits for alternative asset managers, hired Sarah Huntington as chief marketing officer. Huntington previously was director of marketing at Markit.

Crutchfield Capital named William R. Cornelius a director. His resume includes positions at Boston Consulting Group, Highland Capital and Amegy Bank. He has also served as CEO and CFO of several undisclosed operating businesses.

Dynasty Financial Partners hired Matthew Marsh as director of investment solutions. Previously, Marsh most recently served as Southwest regional manager for the consulting group at Morgan Stanley.

Enable Midstream Partners LP, an operator and developer of natural gas and crude oil infrastructure assets, named Craig Harris executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Harris is a former managing director at Alinda Capital Partners.

Jones Lang LaSalle said Christian Ulbrich, president since June, will succeed Colin Dyer as CEO, effective Oct. 1. A professional services firm, JLL manages $59.1 billion of real estate assets through its LaSalle Investment Management business.

Morrison & Foerster, the international law firm, named Oliver Rochman to the London office as a partner in its corporate practice. Rochman, an expert in international fund formation, joins from Proskauer.

Natixis appointed David S. Daniels managing director and head of financial sponsor coverage-Americas. Daniels joins from Nomura Securities International, bringing experience working with PE firms. Natixis, which recently acquired investment banking advisory firm Peter J Solomon, is the international financial services arm of France’s Groupe BPCE.

Safeguard Scientifics tapped Scott A. Snyder as senior vice president, managing director and chief technology and innovation officer. Previously, Snyder served as president and chief strategy officer at Mobiquity Inc.

Tellurian Investments named Meg Gentle president and CEO. Gentle formerly was executive vice president of marketing at Cheniere Energy.

PROMOTIONS

Pantheon promoted Evan Corley, who leads the firm’s real assets platform, to partner. Corley has worked at Pantheon since 2004 and has worked on real assets since its inception in March 2015. Since then, the strategy has raised close to $1 billion in committed capital.