On the move, 4.6.15

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Ares Management LP has hired Michael R. McFerran as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, effective March 23. Prior to joining Ares, McFerran was a managing director at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP where he worked as the CFO of KKR’s credit business and was the COO and CFO of KKR Financial Holdings LLC.

CenterOak Partners LLC has hired three professionals: Jeff Moredock, vice president; Megan Kneipp, vice president of business development, and investor relations; and Casey Gribble, associate. CenterOak is a Dallas-based private equity firm that invests in middle-market companies.

Clearlake Capital Group has named Fred Ebrahemi as general counsel and chief compliance officer. Prior to joining Clearlake, Ebrahemi was senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Platinum Equity Advisors

First Avenue Partners said Patricia Chalian has joined the firm’s New York office. Chalian will be a principal and responsible for project management in North America. Previously, she was a senior managing director at Forbes Private Capital Group.

Highland Capital Management LP has launched Highland Alternative Investors and has named Michael Gregory as global head and CIO of the alternative investment platform. Gregory will continue as managing director and head of healthcare credit and equity at Highland Capital.

Huron Capital Partners LLC has named Robert Taylor to the Huron Resource Group. In his new role, Taylor will join the Valentus Specialty Chemicals Inc’s board of directors where he will provide advice to the Valentus management group. Taylor is the former president and COO of Lilly Industries Inc and the former president and general manager of The Sherwin Williams Company’s chemical coatings division. Valentus Specialty Chemicals is a specialty coatings platform co-founded by Huron.

Natural resources-focused private equity firm NGP Energy Capital Management has hired Jeffrey A. Zlotky as general counsel. Prior to joining NGP, Zlotky was a partner in the corporate and securities practice group at Thompson & Knight LLP

Polaris Private Equity has named Martin Lindh and Thorsten Madsen as investment managers. Lindh previously worked in SEB Private Equity as an investment manager, while Madsen was most recently with Implement Consulting Group.

Z Capital has beefed up its team with several new appointments. The firm has named Dennis L. Roberts and Jeffrey P. Werner as managing directors and operating partners; Andrew C. Curtis as a managing director and a member of the investment team; Elias G. Silverman as a director and a member of the investment team; and Taylor S. Webb as an associate, corporate counsel and a member of the investment team.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

AxleTech International has named Bill Gryzenia chief executive office. Gryzenia was previously VP and general manager of Dana Holding Corp’s on-highway and off-highway aftermarket business. The Carlyle Group in January acquired AxleTech, an engineering and manufacturing company for off-highway and specialty vehicle drive-train systems and components.

GenNx360 Capital Partners said it has promoted Bobby Bryan to CEO of portfolio company Schramm Inc. Bryan was formerly acting CEO. Schramm makes and supplies hydraulic rotary drilling rigs focusing on land-based applications in the mining, energy, geothermal and water sectors.

Innotrac, a portfolio company of Sterling Partners, has named Ramesh Srinivasan as CEO. Based near Atlanta, Innotrac is a provider of ecommerce solutions and services to digital retailers.

NuSil Technology LLC, a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital, said it has named Ernest Waaser as CEO. He takes over from NuSil’s co-founder and CEO, Dick Compton, who is retiring as CEO but will continue to serve as chairman of the company’s board. Most recently, Waaser was an operating partner at Linden Capital Partners. Carpinteria, Calif.-based NuSil supplies medical and space-grade silicones.

Universal Hospital Services Inc said it has named Thomas J. Leonard CEO and a member of the board effective April 13. Leonard most recently served as the president of Medical Systems for CareFusion Corp. Universal Hospital is a portfolio company of Irving Place Capital.

WS Packaging Group, a portfolio company of J.W. Childs Associates LP, has named Charlie Eitel as CEO, effective April 1. Eitel, who succeeds Fred Tinsley, has been on the company’s board of directors since May 2014. His previous work experience includes leadership roles at The Simmons Bedding Company, Interface Inc and Collins & Aikman Floorcoverings. With headquarters in Green Bay, Wis., WS Packaging is a printing and label-converting operation.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Justin Bickle, a managing director with Oaktree Capital Management, has been named the first non-executive chairman of The Beautiful Meme, a London-based creative ad agency.

Investment banking firm D.A. Davidson & Co has appointed Bryan Cummings as managing director and head of private equity coverage. Cummings previously served in senior roles at RBC Capital Markets and an unnamed information services firm.

Dow Schofield Watts has named Tony Norwood as a director to its corporate finance team. Norwood has previously held senior positions at Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance and at LDC.

Online private equity platform iCapital Network has appointed Hannah Shaw Grove as senior vice president and chief marketing officer. She is a founder of Private Wealth magazine and has held leadership roles at Merrill Lynch & Co, Prudential and Fidelity Investments.

Timothy Atkinson, a senior vice president at Meketa Investment Group, has joined the firm’s London office. Previously, Atkinson was based in Meketa’s Boston office where he was in charge of investment manager research and client service. In London, Atkinson will be responsible for manager due diligence with a focus on credit and other debt strategies across the EMEA region.

Multimedia platform Moko Social Media Ltd has named Leo Hindery Jr to its board as a non-executive director. Hindery is a managing partner at InterMedia Partners and is the former chairman and CEO of The YES Network.

Tyler Grahl has joined Presidio Residential Capital’s asset management team. Grahl will be responsible for producing Presidio’s monthly sales reports and tracking pricing, absorption and construction schedules.

Santander has named Tee Pruitt as investment manager of its InnoVentures Fund. Previously, Pruitt was a principal at C5 Capital, working on the firm’s cybersecurity-focused fund.

The Silverfern Group has hired Joe Haslip as a managing director and head of capital strategies and investor relations. Previously, Haslip was a managing director for public plan relations at Blue Harbour Group.

Tim Gardner has joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP’s Hong Kong office as a partner. Gardner, 46, joins Weil from the Hong Kong office of Latham & Watkins LLP, where he was a partner.

PROMOTIONS

The Carlyle Group has promoted Managing Director Brian Bernasek to Head of the Global Industrial and Transportation team. Bernasek succeeds Greg Ledford, who will continue as a Carlyle MD on the U.S. Buyout team. Carlyle also promoted Managing Director Stephen Wise to Co-Head of the Global Healthcare team.

Clearlake Capital Group has made several promotions. Prashant Mehrotra has been promoted to partner, Colin Leonard and Arta Tabaee to principals, and James Pade to vice president.

PIMCO has promoted Dr. Richard Clarida, David Fisher, Richard LeBrun, John W. Murray and Kimberley Stafford to managing directors. PIMCO, which is owned by Allianz SE, is an investment management firm with offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

Polaris Partners has promoted Paulina Hill to principal from senior associate. He will continue to invest as part of the Polaris’ healthcare team. Separately, Dan Lombard has joined Polaris as a principal and member of its technology team. Lombard joins from H.I.G. Growth Partners

Law firm Squire Patton Boggs has promoted Michal Karwacki to partner in the firm’s Warsaw office. Karwacki joined the firm’s global corporate practice in May 2014 and has been its head of private equity and venture capital in Poland. Squire Patton serves as an adviser in the private equity and venture capital markets in Central and Eastern Europe.

Trilantic North America has beefed up its leadership team by promoting five staffers to partners: Elliot AttieGlenn Jacobson, Jeremy Lynch, James Manges and Li Zhang.