Sentinel Adds Two, Nears Final Close –

In a move to help the firm manage its increased fund size, Sentinel Capital Partners has added two new general partners, increasing the number of professionals at Sentinel to five from three.

Christopher Weiler and James Coady joined the firm in early January, said David Lobel, managing partner at the firm. They will assist in all aspects of the firm’s private equity investment activity, he said.

Mr. Weiler was most recently a vice president at CIT Group/Equity Investments, which he joined in 1991 to work on leveraged buyouts.

Prior to joining Sentinel, Mr. Coady worked as an associate at First Chicago Equity Capital, the bank’s buyout arm that invests in middle-market companies. Before that he spent two years as an analyst at Alex. Brown & Sons.

Sentinel currently is raising its second fund, which has a target of $125 million and was launched in April 1998. The firm closed on $90 million last quarter and is anticipating a final close before the end of the first quarter, Mr. Lobel said. Sentinel’s second fund has raised $110 million to date.

The firm’s first fund garnered $50 million in 1996 (BUYOUTS March 25, 1996, p. 8).

The firm’s most recent acquisition was the $22.5 million purchase of Greiling Farms, an add-on to Floral Plant Growers (BUYOUTS Aug. 31, 1998, p. 10).

Sentinel invests in middle-market companies, focusing mainly on business-to-business service companies and consumer-driven businesses with cash flow of at least $4 million.