Private equity firm Sterling Partners‘ Mike Drai has been promoted from vice president to principal. Drai joined Sterling in 2008 and is a vice president. Prior to Sterling, he worked at GTCR Golder Rauner, Allen & Company and Salomon Smith Barney. He received a BS in finance from University of Illinois and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

Full-service nondestructive testing company Desert NDT has acquired T&K Inspection. This is the company’s second acquisition since private equity firm Sterling Partners made its investment in March 2012. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

Full-service nondestructive testing company Desert NDT has appointed Larry Ames, former CEO and president of the Americas at Transfield Services as CEO. He succeeds Doug Frey, who will remain involved with the company as a director. Desert NDT is a portfolio company of Sterling Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm. PRESS RELEASE Desert NDT, LLC, [...]

Sterling Partners has acquired Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, an aviation-maintenance school for training pilots, aviation technicians and nondestructive testing professionals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Sterling Partners has sold Pacific Interpreters, a healthcare-focused provider of interpretation and translation services, to Language Line Services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Prospect Mortgage, a Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based home purchase lender, has appointed Michael Williams, a former president and CEO of Fannie Mae, chairman of its board of directors. Prior to Fannie Mae, Williams held positions at KPMG Peat Marwick and the DuPont Company. Prospect is backed by the private equity firm Sterling Partners.

Foundation Partners Group, an owner and operator of funeral homes and cemeteries in the U.S., has appointed Brad Rex as president and CEO. Rex was mostly recently CEO of his own hospitality consulting company; previously, he was chief customer officer for Hilton Grand Vacations. Foundation is a portfolio company of the Baltimore-based private equity firm Sterling Partners.

Foundations Recovery Network, a behavioral health treatment provider, has been acquired by an investor group led by a Nick Pritzker Capital Management affiliate. Chicago-based private equity firm Sterling Partners sold the business. Terms were not disclosed.

SecureNet, a Rockville, Md.-based maker of payment processing software, has raised $18 million in growth financing led by the private equity firm Sterling Partners. PRESS RELEASE: SecureNet Payment Systems, a leader in payment processing technology, announced today that Sterling Partners, a leading growth-oriented private equity firm with approximately $5 billion in assets under management, has [...]

For those about to rock, Sterling Partners salutes you. The Chicago-based private equity firm is putting another $5 million in School of Rock, the music education company, along with the company’s existing investors. School of Rock was formed in Philadelphia. PRESS RELEASE: Second capital infusion since 2009 investment will further expand growth in U.S. and [...]