HGGC promotes two to MD and two to principal

HGGC has promoted Hudson D. Smith Jr. and Neil H. White to managing director. Also, the middle-market-focused private equity firm has upped Farouk J. Hussein and Steven A. Leistner to principal. Smith, White and Leistner have been with HGGC since 2009 while Hussein joined the firm in 2012.

PRESS RELEASE

PALO ALTO, Calf.—August 31, 2015—HGGC, a leading private equity firm focused on investments in middle-market companies, today announced the promotions of Hudson D. Smith, Jr. and Neil H. White to Managing Director, as well as Farouk J. Hussein and Steven A. Leistner to Principal.

“Hudson, Neil, Farouk and Steven have taken strong leadership roles within our firm to drive the success of our Advantaged Investing model of true partnership among our portfolio companies, our global investors and our team,” said Richard F. Lawson, Jr., CEO of HGGC. “These well-deserved promotions reflect their individual and collective contributions to HGGC, and better position the firm for continued growth and success.”

Hudson Smith is active in the firm’s Fund II investments in Serena Software, Survey Sampling International and Selligent SA, as well as the Fund I investments in MyWebGrocer and MaMa Rosa’s. He previously was involved with the firm’s exited investments in hybris Software, Sunquest Information Systems, and Citadel Plastics. Hudson joined HGGC in 2009 from Bain & Company. Prior to that, he worked at Lincoln International. Hudson graduated magna cum laude from Washington & Lee University and earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Neil White is active in the firm’s Fund II investment in Pearl Holding, as well as the Fund I investments in iQor and Gee Holdings. In addition, Neil is an integral part of the firm’s investor relations effort and significantly supported the firm’s recent $1.33 billion Fund II fundraise that closed at its hard-cap earlier this year. Neil joined HGGC in 2009 from the private equity group at Och-Ziff Capital Management, where he was integral to several middle market private equity transactions. Prior to that, he worked at Bain Capital and the Boston Consulting Group. Neil graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University.

Farouk Hussein is active in the firm’s Fund II investments in AutoAlert, Dealer-FX and Selligent SA, as well as the Fund I investments in MyWebGrocer and Innovative Interfaces. He previously was involved with the firm’s exited investment in hybris Software. Farouk joined HGGC in 2012 from JMI Equity. Prior to that, he worked at Union Square Advisors. Farouk graduated with distinction in Honors Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Steven Leistner is active in the firm’s Fund II investments in Serena Software and Survey Sampling International, as well as the Fund I investments in iQor and MaMa Rosa’s. He previously was involved with the firm’s exited investments in Power Holdings and Sunquest Information Systems. Steven joined HGGC in 2009 as a pre-business school associate and then rejoined the firm after graduation from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining HGGC, Steven worked at McKinsey & Company. Steven graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

About HGGC
HGGC, which was named 2014 Private Equity Firm of the Year by Mergers & Acquisitions magazine, is a leading middle-market private equity firm with over $2.4 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., HGGC is distinguished by its “Advantaged Investing” model that enables the firm to source and acquire scalable businesses at attractive multiples through partnerships with management teams, founders and sponsors who reinvest alongside HGGC, creating a strong alignment of interests. Over its history, HGGC has completed nearly 50 transactions including global platform investments, strategic add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate value of over $10 billion. More information is available at www.hggc.com.