Menkes Finds a Home, Weisel Launches P.E. Fund –

Some four months after he departed his post as a managing director at Dallas-based Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., Alan Menkes has joined Thomas Weisel Partners to co-head its private equity program. The San Francisco-based investment bank this month began pre-marketing its first private equity fund-which will focus on buyouts and growth equity investments-shooting for a target of $500 million.

According to Mr. Menkes, Thomas Weisel Partners-which was formed last September after Mr. Weisel spun out from NationsBanc Montgomery Securities with several of his colleagues-next month will begin formally raising its as-yet-unnamed private equity fund.

Terms of the fund are standard and include a 80%/20% carried interest split. The management fee for the vehicle has yet to be determined, Mr. Menkes said, although it will be in line with the market rate. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette will serve as placement agent.

The fund will target companies in the technology, media and telecommunications, consumer products, business services and health care sectors. It will employ a proactive approach to sourcing deals and will rely on an in-house team of analysts that will research investment opportunities.

Mr. Menkes, who will head the effort in conjunction with Partner Bill Bunting, said the fund will target equity investments between $10 million and $100 million and will have a percentage of its total allocated toward international transactions. Mr. Menkes most recently had focused on Latin America investments for Hicks Muse, which he left in September (BUYOUTS Oct. 12, 1998).

In addition to institutional investors, the fund also is looking to garner commitments from more than 100 chief executive officers and former CEOs; the firm hopes this facet of its L.P. lineup will help it generate deal flow and find investment opportunities that are out-of-reach for other firms.

Mr. Menkes and Mr. Bunting will be assisted in managing the fund by Thomas Weisel Partner Derek Lemke, and the private equity group will round out the team with two additional partners in the next six months.