Taylor takes control at Madison Capital as CEO Wade to retire

Madison Capital Funding, one of the largest mid-market lenders, finalized its succession in a plan that will see the departure of the last of its co-founders.

The Chicago firm said Monday that CEO Hugh Wade would become chairman effective June 30. He will remain in that position until he retires in December, the firm said. Chris Taylor, managing director, will succeed Wade as CEO in June.

Wade was one of several executives who helped launch Madison Capital in 2001. He has served on the firm’s investment committee since inception. His prior roles at Madison Capital include chief administrative officer and chief credit officer.

Wade said in a statement Taylor was the “right person to build upon our long track record of putting insights and experience to work in meeting the financing needs of middle market private equity sponsors.”

Taylor joined Madison Capital in 2005. He is a member of the firm’s senior leadership team and investment committee. Effective immediately, Taylor will assume responsibility for the capital markets and finance functions, the statement said.

Taylor’s ascension was expected. In 2015, Madison Capital suffered a rash of senior-level departures that set the stage for new leadership at the firm, Buyouts reported. Devon Russell, a senior managing director and one of the three members of the firm’s executive committee, left that year. Joshua Niedner, head of Madison Capital’s investment management group, joined Vista Equity Partners. And Faraaz Kamran, who ran Madison Capital’s healthcare leveraged finance team, also departed.

Last year, K. Thomas Klimmeck, a Madison Capital senior managing director and a co-founder, along with Tricia Marks, a managing director and head of capital markets, also retired. With Klimmeck gone, only Wade remained of the original founders.

Madison Capital, a unit of New York Life Insurance Co, had $8.7 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31. The lender provides financing for PE sponsors. Madison Capital’s sweet spot is lower-middle-market deals valued at $250 million or below. The firm is acting as lead arranger of Millennium Trust Co’s dividend recap, Buyouts reported Jan. 24.

Trevor Clark and Chris Williams started Madison Capital more than 15 years ago with the backing of New York Life. Other co-founders include Craig Lacy and Terry Capsay, who have both retired from Madison Capital, along with Klimmeck and Wade.

Clark and Williams have since launched Twin Brook Capital Partners, the mid-market direct lending business of Angelo Gordon & Co. Twin Brook, New York, focuses on loans to companies with EBITDA between $3 million and $50 million. Several former Madison Capital executives have since joined Twin Brook, including Kamran.

Madison Capital and New York Life could not be reached for comment.

Action Item: Call Chris Taylor at +1 312-596-6900

Photo sourced from Madison Capital’s website.