September 2010 - Association for Corporate Growth

tor in GSC Group’s equity and distressed debt
group, where he was responsible for investing
in distressed corporate debt, including active
restructuring involvement and board oversight.
CCMP Capital— The private equity firm
hired Robert McGuire as a senior member
of CCMP Capital Advisors (UK) — CCMP
Capital’s UK affiliate. McGuire will also serve
as a member of the firm’s investment committee.
Together with Thomas Walker and
Stephen Welton, also senior members, Mc-
Guire will oversee the expansion of CCMP’s
investment activities in Europe. He will be
based in London.
McGuire most recently was vice chairman
of JPMorgan Cazenove, where he was
responsible for senior client relationships with
numerous U.K.-based companies, with a focus
on those in the energy sector.
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice— The private
equity firm named Manvinder Singh Banga
as a London-based operating partner. Banga
formerly served as president of Unilever’s
foods, home and personal care division and
also served on the consumer giant’s executive
board.
Banga’s appointment comes shortly after
CD&R tapped Procter & Gamble former chief
AG Lafley as a special partner at the firm, a title
that is also reserved for General Electric vet
Jack Welch.
Prior to joining Unilever’s executive
board in 2005, he headed the company’s Asian
home and personal care division, based in
Singapore. Before that, he served as chairman
and managing director of the company’s Indian
operating company Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
Cowen Group— The firm has a new head
of M&A, naming Michael Costa to the position.
Costa arrives after a long stint at Merrill
Riordan, Lewis & Haden—
Pat Haden was named as Mike Garrett’s replacement as the athletic director
of the University of Southern California. Haden, who
has spent the past 20-plus years in private equity, is
being called on to repair the athletic program’s image
following NCAA sanctions related to transgressions
in the school’s football and basketball programs.
According to Christopher Lewis, a founder of
RLH, Haden’s departure will not trigger a key-man
clause for its most recent fund. He cites that the departure
created a fire drill, in which the firm had to
reach out to its LPs before they heard about Haden’s
move elsewhere. However, he added that all of the
Pat Haden
LPs were contacted and that Haden’s departure
would not impact the firm’s investment activity.
RLH was launched 28 years ago by Lewis and
former LA mayor Richard Riordan, who is no longer active in the day-to-day operations.
Haden joined the pair five years later. Initially, the firm invested its own capital,
but in 1999 took on third-party funding for its debut vehicle. RLH raised its follow-up
fund in 2007, collecting $265 million for RLH Investors II, LP.
Haden’s appointment at USC became effective August 3.
Lynch & Co., where he formerly served as a
managing director in its M&A group.
The move reunites Costa with his former
Merrill colleague, Scott Ryles, Cowen’s head
of investment banking. Costa, who is also assuming
the title of vice chairman of investment
banking, will report to Ryles.
Prior to Merrill, Costa was a lawyer at
Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom. He left
to join Merrill Lynch in 1989.
Crystal Financial— The relatively new
entrant on the commercial finance landscape
recruited Andrew Hettinger to serve as a
managing director of origination. Hettinger,
who will be based in Atlanta, arrives from Cerberus
Capital Management, where he was also
a managing director tasked with origination
and management of new debt investments.
Crystal Financial was formed in March.
Based in Boston and headed by CEO Ward
Mooney, the firm is backed by Soros Fund
Management LLC. Crystal provides senior
term loans of up to $150 million and so far has
already funded over $100 million of financing
since its launch.
Hettinger has experience in both cashflow
and asset-based lending. Before joining
Cerberus, he spent time at Houlihan Lokey and
Deutsche Bank, originating and structuring senior
and mezzanine loans.
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.— The
German investment bank said that Greg
Sommer will join its mergers and acquisitions
group as a managing director and head
of energy M&A for the Americas. He will be
based in New York and will report to Bruce Evans,
head of M&A for the Americas.
Sommer will join Deutsche Bank after 13
years at Citigroup, where he was most recently
a managing director and head of energy mergers
and acquisitions responsible for advising
clients on a broad range of M&A and capital
markets transactions across the energy sector.
Evercore Partners— The boutique investment
bank augmented its chemicals and energy
coverage, naming Philip Kassin as a
September 2010 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 37