On the move, 8.10.2015

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

FPCG LLC, d/b/a FocusPoint Private Capital Group said that Tom Loucas and Linda Pratka have joined their New York office. They will both focus on covering institutional and single family office investors. Loucas joins FocusPoint from Barclays’ Wealth and Investment Management Group, while Pratka was previously head of IR at Freeman Spogli, & Co.

Kainos Capital said that Kevin Elliott has joined the firm as a Partner. Elliott most recently was President and COO of Nash Finch Inc. before Nash’s sale to Spartan Stores Inc. in 2013. Dallas-based Kainos, a private equity firm, is focused on investing in food and consumer businesses.

KKR has named Atsushi Saito the Non-Executive Chairman of KKR Japan effective August 1, 2015. Saito is former President and CEO of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

UK-based growth investor Lyceum Capital has added Thomas Keen as an investment executive to its team. Previously, Keen worked at CIL Management Consultants.

Natural Gas Partners has hired Patrick McWilliams as a managing director at its Houston office. Prior to joining NGP, McWilliams worked at JPMorgan Chase where he served as a managing director.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Compliance Science, which is backed by Edison Partners, has named Henry Bruce as chief marketing officer. Previously, Bruce worked at Centro LLC where he was vice president of product marketing. Based in New York City, Compliance Science is a provider of governance, risk management and compliance solutions for the financial services sector.

Findly Talent subsidiary Hodes, a recruitment advertising agency, has named Roopesh Nair as president and CEO. Previously, Nair worked at Sapient. Findly Talent is a portfolio company of Symphony Technology Group.

Ghostery, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company, named Larry Furr its VP or product. New York-based Ghostery is a marketing technology company.

Los Angeles-based RealtyMogul.com, an online marketplace for real estate investment, has named Timothy Li as chief information officer. Previously, Li has worked at a number of firms in the marketplace lending and FinTech sectors, including LoanDepot, Quick Bridge Funding, Think Finance and JPMorgan Chase. RealtyMogul.com is backed by Sorenson Capital and Canaan Partners.

Restaurants Unlimited Inc. named Jim Eschweiler president and CEO. Eschweiler joined Restaurants Unlimited in April 2014 as CFO. Restaurants Unlimited, a portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners, is a Seattle-based restaurant group.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

TIAA-CREF subsidiary Churchill Asset Management LLC has named Christopher Cox as a senior managing director and chief risk officer. Prior to joining Churchill, Cox worked at The Carlyle Group, where he served as a principal and chief risk officer at Carlyle GMS Finance. Based in New York, Churchill Asset Management is a provider of middle-market lending and senior debt financing.

Evercore has hired Edmund D. Baxter as a senior managing director in its healthcare group. Prior to joining Evercore, Baxter worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he served as a senior managing director.

Mid-market investment bank Lincoln International has named Dominic Rispoli as a managing director and head of retail, North America. Previously, Rispoli worked at Canaccord Genuity’s investment banking division where he served as consumer and retail group head and a managing director.

Chicago-based mid-market lender Madison Capital Funding has hired Jon Leisinger as a director and head of mezzanine credit. Previously, Leisinger worked at Bain Capital‘s credit affiliate Sankaty Advisors where he served as an executive vice president responsible for mezzanine deal origination, credit evaluation, execution and portfolio management. Leisinger’s appointment comes on the heels of news that Devon Russell, a senior managing director, had left Madison Capital after a dozen years.

Ranger AeroSystems, which focuses on investments and acquisitions in the aerospace sector, has added Randy Dobbs to its board of directors. Dobbs is a former senior operating executive at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

PROMOTIONS

Athena Capital Advisors said that David Lynch was promoted to president while Melissa Mattison was named COO. Both appointments were effective July 1. Lincoln, Massachusetts-based Athena Capital is a wealth management firm.

The Blackstone Group said in a July 24 SEC filing that Michael Chae was named CFO. He will replace Laurence Tosi, who has reportedly joined Airbnb Inc. Chae, at Blackstone, has headed media and telecom and international activities in private equity and was head of Asia for the firm. 

First Reserve has promoted Paul Steen and Doug Vaccari to vice president. Both Steen and Vaccari joined the firm in 2011. The promotions became effective July 1.

FPCG LLC, d/b/a FocusPoint Private Capital Group, has promoted Camilla Thomas to Director.

Private equity fund-of-funds manager Grove Street Advisors has promoted Bruce Ou to managing partner. Ou joined Grove Street in 2007 and prior to that worked in Monitor Group’s M&A and corporate finance group.

The Riverside Company has promoted Peter Tsang to partner. Tsang, who is based in the firm’s San Francisco office, joined the staff in 2004. His work background includes stints as an investment banking analyst at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin and as a staff auditor at Ernst & Young.