On the Move 11.5.18: Merida names Mellet and Fickle partners

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Merida Capital Partners, the New York cannabis-focused private equity firm, promoted Daisy Mellet to partner and hired Kevin Fickle as second West Coast partner. The firm also named Danny Moses, who is a private investor and entrepreneur, to its investment committee, and tapped Mina Mishrikey a director and Maxwell Gerard an analyst.

Angeles Equity Partners named Frank Spelman a managing director. Spelman was a principal at Apollo Global Management and, previously, at KKR.

Macquarie Capital named John Katzenmeyer managing director and Eric Varney senior vice president. Both join from Stifel Financial; Katzenmeyer was global head of fintech while Varney covered the fintech sector.

KKR: Ananya Tripathias will join KKR Capstone in India. Tripathias will lead KKR Capstone’s engagements with KKR’s portfolio companies in India. Tripathias previously headed Myntra’s business as well as strategy and planning.

Muirfield Investment Partners, the Boston PE real estate firm, named Arthur Bavelas to the advisory board. Bavelas is CEO of Bavelas Group. In 1998, he founded Family Office Insights to “provide meaningful access and engagement for active, socially conscious entrepreneurs and wealth managers.”

Carlyle Group: David M. Marchick, one of the architects of the firm’s expansion from a boutique PE firm to a globally traded asset manager, will leave by year’s end, the Washington Post reported. Marchick, 52, is moving to a senior adviser role as Carlyle completes its transition to new leadership.

Highlander Partners, the Dallas middle-market private equity firm, named Jeff L. Hull CEO. He remains the firm’s president and managing partner. Michael R. Nicolais will stay on as vice chairman through 2019.

Littlejohn & Co hired Beth Pollack and Thomas Bennet as vice presidents and promoted Bart Stout to vice president. Pollack previously was at Marble Ridge Capital while Bennet, who recently rejoined Littlejohn having started his career there in 2011, was at ScenarioTwo. Stout joined the Greenwich, Connecticut, firm in 2011.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Milani Cosmetics, the Los Angeles cosmetics brand backed by Gryphon Investors, named Evelyn Wang chief marketing officer. She previously was senior vice president of marketing at Wet ‘N Wild.

Avenu Insights & Analytics, a portfolio company of Mill Point Capital, named Michael Romano vice president of sales. Avenu is the Herndon, Virginia, provider of software and services for local and state governments.

Beach House Center for Recovery, a portfolio company of BelHealth Investment Partners, named Thomas Ridge and Steven Levin to the board. Ridge is the former governor of Pennsylvania, a five-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Levin, a physician, is medical director of Johns Hopkins Hospital’s regional pain program. Beach House is the Juno Beach, California, drug- and alcohol-treatment provider.

Artivest named Kamal Jafarnia general counsel and chief compliance officer. He previously was senior vice president at W.P. Carey. Artivest’s backers include KKR, Thiel Capital, Genstar Capital and Aquiline Capital Partners.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

361 Capital, the Denver asset manager, promoted Josh Vail to president. Vail joined the firm in 2010 and most recently served as senior vice president and director of sales.

Boston Consulting Group: Tom Taylor joined as a partner and managing director in the principal investors and private equity practice, according to a source at BCG. Prior to BCG, Taylor ran Ernst & Young’s value creation practice for private equity firms.

SEI named Ted Wozniak head of asset management distribution in the U.S. He previously was senior manager of national accounts for an asset-management firm.

Generational Equity, the M&A adviser, opened an office in Cleveland. Doug Smith, the firm’s senior managing director and group leader for the Midwest U.S., will lead the new office.

Cornerstone Capital Group, the New York registered investment adviser, named Alexander Navab to the board. Navab is former head of the Americas private equity business at KKR.

J.D. Power, a portfolio company of XIO Group, named Kyle Schmitt managing director of global insurance practice. Schmitt joins from State Farm. J.D. Power is the Costa Mesa, California, provider of consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics.

Team8, a New York-Israeli cybersecurity think tank and company-creation platform, named Mike Rogers to its board of advisors. A U.S. Navy admiral, Rogers is the former ex-director of the National Security Agency and ex-chief of the Central Security Service. Team8’s backers include Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors.

Alpha Blue Ocean, the U.K. provider of debt and equity financing to publicly listed companies, named Olivia Blanchard chief compliance officer.

Stifel Financial: Eaton Partners, the placement agent and advisory subsidiary, made a series of hires. Joining in New York are Hudson Collins as vice president of distribution, David Krueger as vice president of secondary advisory and Thomas Holmstrom as associate of project management. Ryan Kane joins the Chicago office as vice president of distribution. Xiaoyan Shu comes on board in Shanghai as director of distribution, and Raghav Kaushik is joining the Hong Kong office as senior analyst of project management.

PROMOTIONS

Atlantic Street Capital promoted Phil Druce and George Parry to partner. Druce joined the private equity firm in 2014 while Parry came on board in 2016.

Bertram Capital, the San Mateo, California, middle-market private equity firm, promoted Tom Beerle and Tim Heston to partner from principal. Beerle and Heston joined Bertram in 2008 as summer interns.