On the Move, May 13, 2019: Carlyle taps Goyal, Edgewater names Kapoor

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Macquarie Capital named Mark Buchanan managing director and head of North American family office coverage. He’s a former managing director at BMO Financial Group. Macquarie also appointed Mark Padjen senior vice president.

Carlyle Group: Pooja Goyal joins as partner and head of the renewable and sustainable energy team. Goyal most recently headed the alternative-energy investing group at Goldman Sachs.

General Atlantic: Michael Gosk joined as an operating partner. Gosk was previously vice president and chief tax officer at GE.

M/C Partners: Travis Keller joined as a partner. He was previously a director at Vilandrie & Co.

Sycamore Partners named Rob Sweeney president. Sweeney is former global head of consumer and retail investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

Southfield Capital promoted Brandon Pinderhughes to principal. Pinderhughes first joined the lower-middle-market PE firm as a senior associate in June 2014.

Activa Capital promoted David Quatrepoint and Frédéric Singer to investment director.

Macquarie Capital appointed Timothy Alden a managing director. He previously led coverage of aerospace, defense and federal companies at Jefferies.

AlpInvest Partners: The Carlyle-backed firm rehired Vjerana Spajic, who will be a VP on the secondaries team. Spajic had been an investment director focused on preferred equity investments in Europe at 17Capital. She previously worked at AlpInvest from 2012 through 2015.

AE Industrial Partners named Tess Sprechman a VP, leading investor relations. She previously was VP of investor relations at Sun Capital Partners.

Blackstone: Kelly Ayotte will join the board. Ayotte represented New Hampshire as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 2011 to 2016. Ayotte also was New Hampshire’s first female attorney general. And Eli Miller, most recently chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is joining the firm, Axios reported. Miller will work on public policy at Blackstone, Bloomberg reported.

Dussur, a joint venture of Public Investment Fund, Saudi Aramco and SABIC, named Raed AlRayes CEO. AlRayes is former adviser to the minister of energy, industry and mineral resources in Saudi Arabia. He also has served as deputy CEO and head of investment banking at Al Rajhi Capital.

Palladin Consumer Retail Partners named Mary Courtney O’Sullivan CFO and chief compliance officer. O’Sullivan previously was VP finance and assistant treasurer at Advent International.

Edgewater Capital Partners appointed Rakesh Kapoor an operating partner. Previously, Kapoor’s resume includes two decades at Saint-Gobain.

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe named Dan Mendelson an operating partner for the healthcare team. Mendelson founded and is former CEO of Avalere Health.

Twin Brook, Angelo Gordon‘s middle-market direct lending arm, named Timothy Wentink a managing director focused on its healthcare lending business. He was a managing director on the healthcare leveraged finance team at Madison Capital.

Hamilton Lane promoted four staffers to managing director: John Brecker and Masayoshi Yazawa, business development, Katie Moore, relationship management, and Nayef Perry, co-investments.

Crossplane Capital: Katie Oswald joined as director of business development. Oswald was previously a member of the business development team for Gauge Capital.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Affinity Gaming, the Las Vegas casino operator, named Mary Elizabeth Higgins CEO. She previously was the company’s COO and CFO. Affinity Gaming is backed by Z Capital.

Spa810, a franchiser of medical aesthetics and wellness clinics, named Francis X. Acunzo CEO. Acunzo is founder and had been CEO of Acara Partners; he will remain a partner there. Spa810 is backed by Princeton Ventures.

Novatech, backed by Trivest Partners, named Dan Cooper CEO. Cooper’s background includes president of Xerox’s global imaging systems subsidiary Electronic Systems.

Therma Holdings, a portfolio company of Gemspring Capital, named Jeffrey Sprau CEO. He succeeds Founder Joe Parisi, who becomes chairman. Therma is the San Jose, California, mechanical services company.

Benevis, a provider of support functions to dental offices, named Rich Beckman CEO. He is former CEO of Great Expressions. Benevis is backed by Littlejohn & Co and Tailwind Capital.

CarTrawler, the Dublin B2B mobility platform that powers more than 100 airlines and 2,000 travel partners, named Charlie Coniglio senior vice president for North America. He previously worked at Green Torino. CarTrawler is backed by BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners.

Gemini Bioproducts, backed by BelHealth Investment Partners, named Bob Stefanowski to the board. Stefanowski is former chairman and managing partner of 3i Group and ex-CEO of DFC Global. Gemini makes biological products and chemical reagents for cell culture.

Taymax, a Planet Fitness franchisee, named Brian Boucher COO. He most recently was head of stores, North America and global retail operations at Under Armour. Taymax is backed by Trilantic North America.

Gelest, backed by New Mountain Capital, named Jim Whitlock COO. He previously was vice president of integrated supply chain for the performance materials and technology business group at Honeywell. Gelest is the Morrisville, Pennsylvania, materials science and tech company.

BackOffice Associates, the Hyannis, Massachusetts, provider of data software, named Melanie Payne CFO. She previously was vice president of strategy and operations at Dell. BackOffice Associates is a portfolio company of Bridge Growth Partners.

Prototek Sheetmetal Fabrication, a portfolio company of CORE Industrial Partners, named William Gress CEO. He’d been president of South America for Brunswick Corp.

RMH Franchise Corp, backed by ACON Investments, named CFO Mitch Blocher to the additional post of president. RMH Franchise is the second-largest Applebee‘s franchisee in the world with 135 locations.

SERVICE PROVIDERS
Perella Weinberg Partners hired Karen Mou as a managing director and head of compensation. Mou most recently was a business manager for the equities modeling business at Two Sigma Investments.

BTIG named Shingo Yatsui a managing director and head of cross-border M&A within its investment-banking unit. Yatsui previously was a director within the industrials, electronics and semiconductors investment-banking teams at GCA.

JMP Securities: David Schechner joined as a managing director in the healthcare investment banking group. Schechner was previously with Robert W. Baird & Co, leading biotech, pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical services.

Mayer Brown hired Tram Nguyen as a partner in its corporate and securities practice, based in the law firm’s Washington office. She previously was a partner at Paul Hastings.

Arma Partners named Broor Spahr van der Hoek partner and co-head of its private and growth capital team. He previously held a number of posts at JP Morgan.

Brown Gibbons Lang, the investment bank and financial adviser, named Peter Hill a managing director in its business-services practice. Hill had been managing director and head of business services at Mufson Howe Hunter.

Covington: David M. Marchick, a former managing director and global head of external affairs at Carlyle, rejoined the law firm in its Washington office. Marchick is serving as senior of counsel. Before first joining Covington in 2002, Marchick held several positions within President Bill Clinton’s administration.

Ethic Inc, the New York tech-driven asset-management platform for wealth advisers and institutional investors, named Alex Papageorgis head of quantitative investments. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs. Ethic’s backers include ThirdStream Partners, Nyca Partners, Kapor Capital and Urban Innovation Fund.

LIMITED PARTNERS

Arlington Family Offices named Jeff Hays president of its Nashville team. Hays was a founder of Cypress Capital, an advisory firm for wealthy investors. Arlington is the  Birmingham, Alabama, family office that provides services to a portfolio of 48 families in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Grupo Ferré Rangel: This Puerto Rico family office’s real estate unit named Lei Ferrand director of capital markets. Her background includes roles at Walton Group of Cos and Vanguard Group. The real estate unit, Kingbird Properties, has rebranded as Kingbird Investment Management.