PE HUB Wire Highlights, 10.16.19

Blackstone works with GSO investors to resolve looming key-person issue; KKR-backed Epicor goes off market

It’s mid-week, Hubsters. I didn’t see last night’s debate at all. Who won? Or did the best?

This morning, KKR set out more details of its leadership. The global buyout shop promoted six dealmakers to head its private equity businesses, the Wall Street Journal reported. KKR doesn’t operate as a single buyout fund but is split into three geographic regions. Pete Stavros and Nate Taylor will co-lead the firm’s private equity business in the Americas, while Mattia Caprioli and Philipp Freise are heading up the European PE business, the story said. Hirofumi Hirano and Ashish Shastry are leading the firm’s Asia-Pacific region.

The promotions come more than two years since KKR set out succession for the firm. In July 2017, KKR tapped Joseph Y. Bae and Scott C. Nuttall as co-presidents and co-chief operating officers. Stavros and Taylor will take over day-to-day of the Americas unit from Bae, the WSJ said.

In more KKR news, the firm pulled its process for Epicor Software after bids came in below expectations. KKR acquired Epicor in 2016 for $3.3 billion. Read Milana Vinn’s story for more information here.

Separately, it’s been over a year since Genstar Capital acquired Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent broker dealers. Now Cetera is facing an SEC lawsuit. The regulator claims Cetera breached its fiduciary duty and defrauded its retail advisory clients when, from September 2012 to December 2016, it knowingly picked high-cost mutual fund investments for clients when otherwise identical investments that were cheaper were available. The clients paid millions of dollars in unnecessary fees, the SEC said in an amended complaint.

The regulatory is seeking an injunction, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and is looking to recover over $21 million from Cetera. Genstar referred questions to Cetera, which declined comment on the lawsuit. See the amended lawsuit here.

Funds: Blackstone Group is negotiating with investors to allow a new $7 billion credit fund to keep investing after the announced departures of two senior executives threatened to cut off the fund’s ability to make new investments. Read Chris’s story here.

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