Weekly People & Company News
- Tim Bottrell and Travis Hogan, former bankers at B. Riley Financial Inc., were hired by Cantor Fitzgerald as managing directors for its new alternative capital solutions group. The group will focus on raising financing across the capital structure, from equity through senior secured debt. Bottrell is set to join in May, while Hogan has started at the firm, led by CEO Howard Lutnick.
- Sean Lynch was hired by UBS to bolster its business advising technology companies. UBS has hired Barclays’ Lynch, who covers companies including Uber Technologies Inc. and Tesla Inc., amid the efforts to expand. UBS also announced plans to open an office in Menlo Park, CA.
- Kegan Greene and Rob Freiman have resigned as co-heads of financial technology investment banking at Jefferies. Greene was head of insurance technology investment banking, while Freiman led payments investment banking. Both Greene and Freiman joined Jefferies in 2022 from Houlihan Lokey.
- Peter Aliprantis was appointed EQT as head of its Americas private wealth management business in a push to offer high-net-worth clients access to private market investments. The Stockholm-headquartered investment firm is hiring Aliprantis as a partner in NY, where he’ll report to EQT’s global head of private wealth, Peter Beske Nielsen. Aliprantis is joining from TPG Angelo Gordon, where he was a managing director. Prior to TPG Angelo Gordon, he was a partner and managing director at FrontPoint Partners working on the distribution of alternative investment products to private investors and advisors.
- Laura Leyland was promoted to partner by Asante Capital Group, a private equity placement and advisory group. The firm’s fifth partner, Leyland joined Asante more than a decade ago and has worked on mid-market private equity fundraisings across growth, buyout and real assets funds in Europe, North America and some emerging markets. Before joining Asante in 2013, Leyland was a lawyer at Clifford Chance in London for the private funds group.
- BDT & MSD Partners is nearing a deal to sell the firm’s majority stake in Marquette Transportation Co. to Redwood Capital Investments, the family office of Jim Davis and Steve Bisciotti, according to Bloomberg. Marquette’s founders are set to roll a roughly $100M equity stake into a transaction that would value the company at about $1B. BDT has controlled the Kentucky-based provider of marine towing services since 2015 and has been exploring options for its stake.
- MassMutual has become a minority equity owner in Apollo’s Atlas SP Partners and a capital partner to the Atlas platform. Atlas is the warehouse finance and securitized products business majority owned by Apollo funds. As part of the multi-billion-dollar commitment, MassMutual has also agreed to invest in Apollo’s ABF franchise. These investments will allow MassMutual to access predominately investment-grade, asset-backed credit originated by Atlas SP and across the broader Apollo ecosystem.
- Godspeed Capital Management LP, a middle-market defense and government services and tech-focused private equity firm, has acquired IDCUS Inc. under ICE USA, its transportation-focused engineering and consulting services platform holding company. Headquartered in Houston, IDCUS is a civil engineering and consulting firm focused on public infrastructure development and management services for transportation customers including the Texas Department of Transportation.
- Vestar Capital Partners, a U.S. middle-market private equity firm, has closed a $1.2B single-asset continuation vehicle for its stake in Circana, an advisor on consumer behavior. Vestar led a recapitalization of Information Resources Inc., Circana’s predecessor, with IRI’s original control shareholder New Mountain Capital in 2018. In 2022, IRI merged with NPD Group, a Hellman & Friedman portfolio company, to form Circana, now jointly owned by H&F, Vestar, NMC and management. Blackstone Strategic Partners and HarbourVest Partners acted as lead investors in the transaction.
- Deerpath Capital Management LP, a provider of customized, cashflow-based senior debt financing to lower-middle market companies, has closed Deerpath CLO 2024-1, a $452.61 million collateralized loan obligation. The CLO brings the firm’s total CLO assets to approximately $3.2B. The CLO is secured by a portfolio of senior secured loans to middle market, private equity-backed companies.
- Crosslink Capital, Inc., a Menlo Park, CA-based early-stage VC investing firm, closed its 10th flagship fund at $350M. The firm invests in early-stage founders from inception, which includes pre-seed and seed, through Series A, and supporting them at every stage of their growth. The firm backs entrepreneurs who are building “disruptive and market-transforming companies.” Core to the firm’s strategy is its commitment to Alpha, an invite-only network of more than 2,000 founders, CEOs, investors, and operators that was co-founded in 2005 by general partner Eric Chin. The firm manages over $4.6B.
- Endeavor BioMedicines, Inc., a San Diego, CA-based clinical-stage biotech company, closed a $132.5M Series C financing, including the conversion of a $5M convertible instrument. The round was led by AyurMaya, an affiliate of Matrix Capital Management, with participation from new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Invus, and SymBiosis, among others.
- Strattam Capital, an Austin, TX-based private equity firm, closed its third flagship fund, Strattam Capital Investment Fund III, at $308M. The firm invests in independent, founder-led tech companies with equity investments ranging from $20M to $60M. The firm is led by Bob Morse, co-founder and managing partner, and Adrian Polak, co-founder and partner.
- Rippling, a San Francisco, CA-based workforce management startup, raised $200M in new financing. The company also signed agreements with investors to repurchase up to $590M of equity from current employees, former employees, and early investors. The financing was led by Coatue with participation from Founders Fund, Greenoaks and other existing investors. Dragoneer is joining the round as a new investor. The financing values the company at $13.5B.
- Pomelo, a San Francisco, CA-based consumer fintech to enable international money movement with consumer credit, raised $35M in Series A in venture capital and a $75M expansion of its warehouse facility, bring total funds raised to date to $55M in equity capital and $125M for its warehouse facility. Backers included Vy Capital, Founders Fund, and A* Capital. The company is led by Eric Velasquez Frenkiel, founder and CEO.
