People and Company News, Week of November 22, 2024
- Tara McCann was appointed head of Americas investor and consultant relations by LaSalle Investment Management. Based in NY, she reports to Samer Honein, global head of investor relations. McCann will assume the responsibilities of Adam Caskey, head of Americas investor relations, who will retire in December. She joins LaSalle from Rockwood, where she served as head of capital and client strategies. Prior to that, she was an MD with USAA Real Estate Company.
- Jon Frojen was hired as CFO by Beacon Pointe Advisors, a female-led registered investment advisor. Frojen departs from Osaic, formerly known as Advisor Group, and previously served as their CFO. Since 1985, Frojen has held various leadership positions, including CFO, VP, and MD, across multiple companies. He will oversee the firm’s financial functions and strategy. Prior to joining Beacon Pointe, Jon spent the last 15 years as CFO of United Capital Financial Advisors, Osaic and Cetera.
- Timur Akazhanov was hired as a general partner by investment firm B Capital as it aims to make larger growth equity investments in tech firms and tech-enabled service companies. The former H.I.G. Capital managing director has a mandate to focus on situations where B Capital can obtain significant influence or control by acquiring increasingly sizable stakes. Akazhanov will focus on investing in companies valued at less than $1B including debt.
- Jérôme Foulon was named global head of commercial real estate by Lone Star, a global private equity firm advising funds that invest in real estate, corporate equity, credit and other financial assets, following the retirement of André Collin. Foulon joined Lone Star in 2018 and has served in multiple senior positions, most recently as senior MD for global origination where he was responsible for investment strategy and policy for Lone Star’s CRE funds. Prior to joining Lone Star, Foulon was an MD in the real estate division of PSP Investments.
- Jennifer Tedesko was hired as a managing director by Lazard in its private capital advisory business, where she’ll focus on originating and advising on private equity secondary transactions. Holcombe Green, global head of Lazard private capital advisory, said in a Bloomberg interview that his group has seen significant demand from West Coast clients for its services, which include assisting with fundraising and advising on secondaries deals.
- Stonepeak, an infrastructure and real assets focused alternative investment firm, has acquired Fleet Companies, a regional trailer dealership and leasing company. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, Fleet will serve as the seed asset for a multi-faceted national trailer platform that Stonepeak plans to build out through additional acquisitions and greenfield operations across the U.S. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the transaction has already closed.
- SEI announced that Front Street Capital Management has selected the fintech firm for custody and technology solutions. The Montana-based registered investment advisor joins SEI from Schwab and is moving more than $600 million in assets under management to the company.
- Rubicon Technology Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on mid-market software investments, completed a $500 million single-asset continuation fund to extend its partnership with Cin7, a cloud-based inventory management software company. CVC Secondary Partners served as lead investor, with participation from Ares Management funds, funds managed by BlackRock, funds managed by Goldman Sachs AM, and Schroders Capital.
- Charlesbank Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, has made an investment in IMPLAN Group LLC, an economic impact data and analytical software provider. The investment will help the company drive its development of new product capabilities, expansion of datasets and growth of geographic coverage. Existing investor Boathouse Capital will fully exit the business.
- Investcorp, in partnership with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, has made a strategic growth investment in PKF O’Connor Davies, an accounting, tax and advisory firm in the U.S. The deal will also provide flexibility for increased M&A activity as well as investments in technology and new service lines.
- EverBank, N.A. has opened its first West Coast financial center in Encino, CA. The branch is led by manager Alfred Ovasapyan. The Encino financial center is part of EverBank’s strategic expansion into California, anchored by the bank’s West Coast hub office in Irvine. EverBank’s financial center growth in California is led by Patrick Nygren, head of retail banking, along with regional manager Brian Gilpatrick. EverBank plans to open a second West Coast center in Roseville later this year.
- Initiate Ventures has closed its debut fund at $45M, aiming to co-found and invest in healthcare, life sciences, and technology companies. Initiate will focus on seed and Series A rounds. The startup’s first investments include Cornerstone AI and Delfi Diagnostics.
- Osyte, developers of an AI-powered multi-asset portfolio management technology, closed a $4 million seed round. The company aims to use the fresh capital to expand its go-to-market capabilities, accelerate its AI product, and scale its client management team. Osyte’s technology enables liquidity management of hedge funds and private market commitments, AI/ML powered portfolio optimization, risk and exposure analytics, rebalancing, and streamlines trading of multi-asset portfolios with both liquid and illiquid securities.
- Kong Inc., a cloud API technology developer, has closed a $175M up-round Series E financing, with a mix of primary and secondary transactions at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Tiger Global and co-led by new investor Balderton, with additional new participation from Teachers’ Venture Growth, the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan., among others. This brings Kong’s total capital raised to $345M. Rana Yared will join Kong as a board observer.
- Enlightenment Capital, an aerospace, defense, government and tech investor, has hit an increase-hard-cap final close for its fifth flagship fund by raising $825M. The firm had set a $600M target for Enlightenment Capital Solutions Fund V but soared past both that figure and its initial $750M cap thanks to strong support from new and returning LPs. Enlightenment said Fund V would continue to make control and strategic, non-control investments in the ADG&T sector.
- Cardo AI, an asset-based finance and private credit tech platform, has completed its $15M Series A round co-led by Blackstone Innovations Investments, Blackstone’s early-stage strategic investment arm, FINTOP Capital and JAM FINTOP. Andy Horwitz and Kevin MacDonald, co-founders of Black Mountain Systems, also participated in the round. Cardo AI offers advanced portfolio modeling and collateral data management technology.
Read More News Stories About: LPL Financial, Osaic
