On the move, 10.26.16 – PE-backed Petco gets new CEO

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Actis named Carlton Byrd a director in its investor development group. Byrd previously was a managing director at Commonfund.

BelHealth Investment Partners, the healthcare-focused private equity firm, named Scott Lee a managing director. Lee is a former principal at HealthEdge Investment Partners.

Bridge Growth Partners appointed Joseph M. Tucci chairman. Tucci is the former chairman and CEO of EMC Corp and former chairman of VMWare.

Cortec Group named Robert Whipple a managing director. Whipple previously was a principal at Apax Partners. The New York-based PE firm also recently promoted Jack Miner to vice president and hired Nick Cooper as an associate. Miner has been with Cortec since 2011, while Cooper was an analyst at Piper Jaffray.

FS Investments appointed Steve DeAngelis executive vice president and head of distribution. DeAngelis had served as managing director and head of U.S. advisor solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Highland Capital Management hired Brad Eden as global head of marketing and investor relations. Eden’s experience includes serving as a co-founder of Fund Evaluation Group.

Highlander Partners tapped Rashid Skaf a senior adviser for its PE team. Skaf is the former president and CEO of AMX.

Lovell Minnick Partners named Joseph Velli a senior adviser. Velli had been chairman and CEO of Convergex Group.

Onex Credit hired Brian Horton as a portfolio manager. Onex Credit manages and backs leveraged loans, collateralized loan obligations and other credit securities.

Perella Weinberg Partners named Joseph S. Lovell a managing director for its advisory business. Lovell previously was a managing director at Wells Fargo Securities.

River Road Asset Management: William W. Yang joined as a portfolio manager. Yang Previously was senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth LLC.

Seacoast Capital: Tom Ley joined as principal on the firm’s investment team. Ley had led the West Coast offices of Lincolnshire Management, H.I.G. Capital and Guggenheim Partners.

Värde Partners, the alternative investment firm, named two of its partners, Ilfryn Carstairs and Jeremy Hedberg, as co-chief investment officers. Both join current CIO George Hicks, who is also CEO. The appointments are effective Jan. 1, 2017. Hicks will step down from being a co-CIO on January 1, 2018, and will remain CEO.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a portfolio company of Hellman & Friedman,  named Ann Fandozzi CEO. Fandozzi is a former CEO of Ride Group. ABRA is a national vehicle-repair company.

Petco, the specialty retail chain, said that CEO Jim Myers will be retiring. Brad Weston, president and chief merchant, will succeed Myers, effective February 1, 2017. Petco is owned by CVC Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Pilgrim Quality Solutions, the Tampa, Florida, provider of enterprise quality management software and services for the life-sciences sector, added Rick Lowenstein to its board of managers. Lowenstein was senior vice president at Avid Global Services. Quality Solutions is backed by Riverside Partners.

Pirch, the home-products retailer, named Andrea Dorigo president and CEO. Previously, Dorigo held several senior roles at Luxottica. Pirch is backed by L Catterton.

Precision Global, a portfolio company of Peak Rock Capital, named Matthias Welp director of global account management, Abe Baksh as bag-on-valve sales manager of North America and Pascal Delettang as pump sales manager of North America. New York-based Precision makes valves, actuators and other dispensing solutions.

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Aldwych Capital Partners hired Steven M. Cowan as co-head of the firm’s energy practice. Cowan’s resume includes serving in the energy investment banking groups of Jefferies, Deutsche Bank, Canaccord Genuity and Clarksons Platou.

EA Markets hired Harpreet Wadhawan as a managing director. Previously, Wadhawan co-founded Faehm LLC.

First Avenue Partners, the placement agent and investment adviser, added Haroon Chishti as a director at its New York office. Chishti previously was a vice president at Unigestion.

Goodwin named Arnaud Fromion and Frédéric Guilloux partners for the firm’s PE practice. Both will join the law firm’s Paris office in mid-October. Both previously worked at Sherman & Sterling.

Harris Williams: Giles Tucker rejoined as a managing director after having co-founded Blue Edge Capital. Tucker previously was with Harris Williams for 13 years as a managing director.

Navidar, the investment bank, named Matt Kreutz a managing director in Indianapolis. Kreutz had been an M&A specialist, advising startups and lower-middle-market companies. Navidar also tapped DeWayne A. Nelon as a managing director. He previously ran Nelon Group in Dallas.

Proskauer named Monica Arora a partner for its private investment funds group. Arora previously worked at White & Case.

Quest Resource Holding, a provider of sustainability, recycling and environmental and resource management solutions, named Sarah R. Tomolonius to the board. Tomolonius is a vice president of marketing and investor relations at Arlon Group.

LIMITED PARTNERS

James Irvine Foundation appointed Tim Recker chief investment officer. Recker will succeed John Jenks, who will retire in January. Recker currently is managing director for private equity and real assets at the Regents of the University of California.

PROMOTIONS

Asia Century Investment made three promotions: Steven Davids was named head of global equities in the global equity division, Jason Steinberg is now senior equity trader and team manager on U.S. large-cap and core strategy, and Jason Goldman  becomes global equities strategist and fund analyst on ACI Fund Management.

Canaan Partners promoted Brendan Dickinson to partner and Michael Gilroy to principal. Both work in the firm’s tech practice and are based in the New York office. And the firm has been making changes in its healthcare practice, promoting Julie Papanek to partner and Colleen Cuffaro to principal. Papanek is based in Menlo Park and San Francisco, California, while Cuffaro is in Westport, Connecticut.

SolarCity, the clean-energy provider, promoted Radford Small to chief financial officer. He had been executive vice president of global capital markets. Prior to joining SolarCity, Small was a managing director and chief operating officer for the clean technology and renewables group at Goldman Sachs.

Sorenson Capital promoted Len Blackwell to managing director of portfolio operations. Blackwell has been with the firm since 2006.

TCV promoted Kapil Venkatachalam and John Doran to general partner. Venkatachalam joined the firm as an associate in 2006 while Doran came on board as a principal in 2012.

Verit Advisors promoted John Solimine to managing director from principal. Solimine leads debt capital markets efforts at the firm, which advises middle-market businesses on transactions and strategic alternatives.

Wynnchurch Capital promoted Frank Hayes to co-managing partner. Hayes joined the firm in 2001 as a partner.