LPs

Star Mountain taps former Presidio Group CEO to lead SF office

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Star Mountain Capital, Presidio Group, private equity, venture capital, Karl Schade
A man walks in the Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with the fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, in San Francisco, California March 1, 2013. Labor unions are bargaining with federal government agencies in an attempt to soften the financial blow on federal employees as $85 billion in spending cuts kick in. The $85 billion axe will hit food inspection, national parks, border security, federal prisons, law enforcement, even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Photo courtesy Reuters/Robert Galbraith - RTR3EGOA
  • Karl Schade stepped down from Presidio Group in March
  • Schade to launch SF office, staff for Star Mountain
  • Presidio, Star Mountain both investors in National Health Finance

Star Mountain Capital hired former Presidio Group CEO Karl Schade as its newest senior partner.

Schade’s background includes stints as a dealmaker at firms like Blum Capital Partners, Silver Lake and Blackstone Group. He went on to launch Presidio Group’s private equity division, known as Presidio Investors, in 2007. The San Francisco firm closed its debut investment fund on $44.5 million the following year.

Schade was eventually tapped to lead Presidio Group’s $4 billion asset-management platform in 2013. He left Presidio in March 2016 when the Presidio Investors team spun out to become an independent firm. Five months later, Presidio Group’s private wealth group merged with New York-based Tiedemann Wealth Management.

Presidio Investors targets small-market, technology-enabled services, financial-services and health/wellness companies with as much as $100 million of revenue. Star Mountain, a lower-mid-market specialist with fund-investment, secondary and direct-deal platforms, invested alongside Presidio in portfolio company National Health Finance.

“I knew [Star Mountain Founder and CEO Brett Hickey] prior to that deal, but I didn’t know the rest of his team very well,” Schade told Buyouts. Working together on the National Health Finance acquisition provided an opportunity to meet the rest of Hickey’s team, along with several of the firm’s senior advisers.

The firm’s line of questioning during the deal’s due-diligence period was impressive, Schade said. It also enabled him to see “under the hood, so to speak,” he added. “They really stood out.”

“We’ve known Karl and his team for a long time. We have a bunch of mutual connections,” Hickey told Buyouts, adding that the National Health Finance investment reinforced the notion Schade would be a good fit at Star Mountain.

One of Schade’s responsibilities at Star Mountain will be opening and staffing a new office in San Francisco. Presidio Investors staff are expected to join the firm in coming months.

Star Mountain has offices in Atlanta, Bedminster, New Jersey, Charlotte, North Carolina, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, Vero Beach, Florida, and Washington.

Action Item: More about Star Mountain: starmountaincapital.com

A man walks on March 1, 2013, in the Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with the fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. Photo courtesy Reuters/Robert Galbraith