Jensen Hughes, a global leader in engineering, consulting and technology that make the world safe, secure and resilient, announced today that its board of directors appointed Dominic Casserley as its Executive Chair.

As Executive Chair, Casserley will work closely with the Jensen Hughes management team to reinforce the company’s key priorities.

“We are thrilled to welcome Dominic to our board,” said Raj Arora, CEO of Jensen Hughes. “His extensive experience and strategic insight will be instrumental in supporting our company’s continued growth.”

Casserley’s career began at McKinsey & Company (1983-2013), where he held influential leadership positions in various practices and positions across the globe. He served on the Shareholders Council of McKinsey from 1998 to 2013, and for five years oversaw the global finances of the company. In 2013, Casserley became the CEO of Willis, the global corporate insurance broker. He initiated and oversaw the merger with Towers Watson to create Willis Towers Watson, a $10 billion revenue company listed on NASDAQ. He served as President of Willis Towers Watson until December 2016. Casserley was also the Chairman of ERM, the environmental consulting firm, from 2019 to 2022. More recently, Casserley has served on multiple private equity portfolio company boards across various industries.

“I am honored to be taking on the position of Executive Chair at Jensen Hughes,” said Casserley. “I look forward to working with the entire team to capitalize on growth opportunities and activate strategies that set the company up for continuing success.”

Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco-based middle-market private equity firm, is the lead investor in Jensen Hughes.

Gryphon Deal Partner Leigh Abramson and Operating Partner Scott Hearn said, “We are excited to partner with Dominic as Jensen Hughes moves forward. He will play a critical role as we continue our strategic growth plan and enable positive experiences for all our clients and employees.”

About Jensen Hughes

Jensen Hughes is a global leader in engineering, consulting and technology that make our world safe, secure and resilient. Worldwide, Jensen Hughes is recognized most widely for its leadership in fire protection engineering – a legacy of responsibility the company has advanced with honor and pride since 1939. Jensen Hughes’ commitment to safety, security and resilience extends to other critical competencies core to its purpose. These include accessibility consulting, risk and hazard analysis, process safety, forensic investigations, security risk, and emergency management as well as digital innovation across many of its services. Today, the Company has 1,700+ engineers, consultants, analysts and strategists who work from 90+ offices supporting clients in 100+ countries across all end markets.

About Gryphon Investors

Gryphon Investors is a leading middle-market private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively advantaged companies in the Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial Growth, Software, and Technology Services and Solutions sectors. With approximately $9+ billion of assets under management, Gryphon prioritizes investments in which it can form strong partnerships with founders, owners, and executives to accelerate the building of leading companies and generate enduring value through its integrated deal and operations business model. Gryphon’s highly differentiated model integrates its well-proven Operations Resources Group, which is led by full-time, Gryphon senior operating executives with general management, human capital acquisition and development, treasury, finance, and accounting expertise. Gryphon’s three core investment strategies include its Flagship, Heritage, and Junior Capital strategies, each with dedicated funds of capital. The Flagship and Heritage strategies target equity investments of $50 million to $500 million per portfolio company. The Junior Capital strategy targets investments in junior securities of credit facilities, arranged by leading middle-market lenders, in both Gryphon-controlled companies, as well as in other private equity-backed companies operating in Gryphon’s targeted investment sectors.

Contact:

Caroline Luz

Lambert

cluz@lambert.com

203-570-6462

Chris James Appointed Global Head of Tac Opps, David Blitzer to Transition to Chairman

Jas Khaira to be Head of Tac Opps Americas, Qasim Abbas to be Head of Tac Opps International

November 5, 2024, New York – Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that Chris James – currently Chief Operating Officer (COO) and a founding member of Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (“Tac Opps”), with nearly two decades of experience at Blackstone – will become Global Head of Tac Opps. He will succeed David Blitzer, who will transition to chairman of the business at year end. Blackstone also today announced the elevation of two long-time senior Tac Opps partners to expanded leadership roles for the business. Jas Khaira will be Head of Tactical Opportunities Americas and Qasim Abbas will be Head of Tactical Opportunities International.

Blackstone launched its Tactical Opportunities platform in 2012 – a strategy the firm pioneered – to invest across the landscape of private investment opportunities outside of traditional private equity and private credit. Today, Tac Opps has $37 billion of assets under management and is the largest structured capital solutions platform in the world. The Tac Opps team invests globally across asset classes, industries, and geographies, seeking to deliver compelling risk-adjusted returns by identifying and executing on attractive, differentiated investment opportunities.

Steve Schwarzman, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Blackstone, and Jon Gray, President & COO of Blackstone, said: “Chris James is the ideal choice to lead Tac Opps. He helped found the business and has run it day-to-day alongside David since its inception – playing an integral role in its success. Tac Opps is thriving in the current environment and we are confident CJ, Jas, and Qasim will continue its strong momentum. We are also quite pleased that David – who has done a world-class job building the Tac Opps franchise from scratch – will continue as chairman of the business.”

Chris James said: “I am excited to take on this new position and, alongside my partners Qasim and Jas, lead the deeply talented Tactical Opportunities team. We believe Tac Opps’ differentiated platform – with scale and flexible capital that benefits from the vast intellectual capital across Blackstone – is incredibly well positioned to continue delivering highly compelling opportunities for our investors.”

David Blitzer said: “We are pleased to have three of our senior partners take on these new positions to further the growth and success of the business – illustrating the breadth and strength of the talent on our team. CJ, Jas, and Qasim have been part of Tac Opps since the beginning and are perfectly positioned to continue moving it forward to even greater heights.”

In additional to his role as COO of Tac Opps, Mr. James has also been instrumental in the launching several new businesses at Blackstone including its insurance platform, growth investing platform, and private equity strategy for individual investors. Prior to Tactical Opportunities in 2012, Mr. James had been involved in the execution of Blackstone strategic initiatives, including the firm’s IPO, and its investments in GSO (now Blackstone Credit and Insurance, “BXCI”) and Strategic Partners.

Mr. Abbas currently leads Tac Opps’ European business and joined Blackstone in 2012. Mr. Khaira has been at Blackstone for two decades and leads Tac Opps digital infrastructure investments. Both Mr. Abbas and Mr. Khaira are founding members of Tac Opps.

Last year, Blackstone announced the record close of Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund IV (“BTO IV”). Including other single-investor vehicles pursuing the same strategy, the combined BTO IV platform is currently expected to have nearly $10 billion of new capital in its fourth fundraising vintage. This is substantially higher than the BTO III platform and the largest-ever vintage of its kind. Recent investments in BTO IV include CoreWeave, a specialized provider of critical cloud infrastructure pioneering the AI revolution, and the music royalty platform Hipgnosis.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Contact
Matt Anderson
(518) 248-7310
Matthew.Anderson@blackstone.com

October 15, 2024 – Hastings, UK – Medica Group, the leading provider of telemedicine services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Hargreaves as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Tom will be joining Medica Group in early 2025.

This strategic leadership appointment strengthens Medica’s executive team following its acquisition by IK Partners.

Tom Hargreaves joins Medica with extensive experience in high-growth technology and business services sectors, most recently serving as CFO of Auction Technology Group (ATG). At ATG, he played a pivotal role in scaling the business from $25 million in revenue to its listing on the FTSE250, delivering substantial returns for private equity investors. Prior to ATG, Tom held leadership roles at Vodafone and Yell UK, where he helped drive significant growth.

With a strong foundation in blue-chip finance and a proven track record of success in private equity-backed environments, Tom brings valuable expertise in scaling businesses, enhancing financial performance and delivering shareholder value. His ability to lead and grow companies in dynamic industries aligns with Medica’s ongoing transformation and growth strategy.

Commenting on his appointment, Tom Hargreaves said:
“I am excited to join Medica at this critical juncture in its growth journey. Having spent seven years at ATG, I am ready for a new challenge and see significant growth potential at Medica. The company’s service model, supported by its dedicated teams, has many parallels to my previous experiences, and I am eager to leverage my expertise in a high-growth environment backed by a highly regarded private equity firm like IK Partners.”

Andrew Cannon, CEO at Medica Group, added:
“We are delighted to welcome Tom Hargreaves to Medica’s leadership team. His impressive track record of delivering results in both technology and service-related organisations makes him an ideal fit for Medica as we continue to drive growth and improve lives through excellence in diagnostics and research”

Medica Group continues to play a key role in the healthcare industry by providing innovative teleradiology services to reduce imaging backlogs, improve clinical outcomes and support healthcare professionals across the UK, Ireland, and the US.

About Medica Group

Read More

Durham, NC – September 25^th, 2024 – MedPharm, a global topical and transdermal Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (“CDMO”), today announced Mr. Eric Evans will join its Board of Directors. With more than 30 years of experience, Mr. Evans has held senior financial leadership roles at companies across the pharmaceutical and contract services industries, including holding the position of Chief Financial Officer at the following companies: Alcami Corporation, TriPharm Services, Avista Pharma, Mayne Pharma, AAIPharma Services, and Patheon. Earlier in his career, Mr. Evans held executive finance positions at Novartis and Sandoz.

“Eric’s track record of providing leadership in financial and operational strategies as CFO of multiple high-growth, successful private equity-backed organizations is truly impressive,” commented Patrick Walsh, Executive Chairman at MedPharm. “I am delighted to be working with him again.”

On his appointment to MedPharm’s Board of Directors, Eric commented, “MedPharm has a well-documented history of providing reliable drug delivery services to the global pharma community and with its recent merger with Tergus Pharma, it has set the stage for an exciting next chapter of growth.”

About MedPharm

MedPharm is an end-to-end contract service provider of topical and transepithelial products supporting early phase research, formulation development and in vitro testing services in addition to both clinical and commercial manufacturing. With MedPharm’s recent merger with Tergus Pharma, MedPharm enhanced its capabilities, transforming the business into a truly differentiated CDMO of scale with superior end-to-end capabilities from drug development & formulation to large batch commercial manufacturing and distribution. For more than 25 years, MedPharm has specialized in reducing risk through its unique, industry-leading in vitro testing and research biology models and is a global leader in product development for dermal/transdermal, lung and nasal, mucosal membrane, ungual, otic and ophthalmic delivery. MedPharm has locations in the United Kingdom and United States, including a new 97,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Durham, NC. For more information, visit MedPharm.com.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit AmpersandCapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Bourne Partners Strategic Capital

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Bourne Partners Strategic Capital is a private equity and growth equity investment firm focused exclusively on the pharmaceutical, pharma services and consumer healthcare sectors. As owners and operators with over 20 years of experience, BPSC has investment, strategic and operational experience in companies ranging from $5M to $3B in equity value and seeks to align and partner with management teams and other owners in these sectors to grow their businesses. BPSC is a related company of Bourne Partners, which offers investment banking and advisory services in the same key focus areas. For more information, please visit bourne-partners.com.

About Great Point Partners

Great Point Partners, founded in 2003 and based in Greenwich, CT, manages over $1.9B of capital in its private funds and public life sciences equity strategy (BioMedical Value Fund). The private equity funds invest across all sectors of the health care industry with a particular emphasis on biopharmaceutical services and supplies, alternate site care, medical device contract manufacturing and information technology enabled businesses. The firm pursues a proactive and proprietary approach to sourcing investments and tuck-in acquisitions for its portfolio companies. For additional information, visit gppfunds.com.

Silversmith Capital Partners, a growth equity firm focused on supporting the best entrepreneurs in technology and healthcare, today announced the addition of nine new team members to the firm including Livia Reuss as Senior Associate, Annie Cory and Alex Sideropoulos as Associates, and Ashanti Greene, Jerry Karalis, Ruben Luthra, Apurva Oak, Dade Ogunmuyiwa, and Edbert Wu as Analysts.

New team members include:

Livia Reuss, Senior Associate

Liv focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services, particularly within sales, marketing, and customer experience technology. Prior to Silversmith, Liv was an investor at TA Associates where she focused on partnering with entrepreneurs in vertical market software. Before TA, Liv began her career on Morgan Stanley’s power and utilities investment banking team. Liv graduated from Middlebury College with a BA, summa cum laude.

Annie Cory, Associate

Annie focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services. Prior to Silversmith, Annie was an investor at Summit Partners where she focused on partnering with entrepreneurs in enterprise software. Before joining Summit, Annie began her career on Morgan Stanley’s technology investment banking team. Annie graduated from Princeton University with a BA, magna cum laude, in Public and International Affairs.

Alex Sideropoulos, Associate

Alex focuses on investments in Healthcare IT & Services. Prior to Silversmith, Alex worked in investment banking at William Blair and Citi where he helped advise clients on private capital markets transactions. Alex graduated from Georgetown University with a BBA, summa cum laude, in Finance and Accounting.

Ashanti Greene, Analyst

Ashanti focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services. Prior to Silversmith, Ashanti worked as an investment banking summer analyst at Morgan Stanley and an investment office intern at the Brown University Endowment. Ashanti graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in Public Policy and an Economics minor from Duke University.

Jerry Karalis, Analyst

Jerry focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services. Prior to Silversmith, Jerry worked as a summer analyst at VSS Capital Partners and Constitution Capital Partners. Jerry graduated from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College with a BS in Management and concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurship, and a minor in Managing for Social Impact and Public Good.

Ruben Luthra, Analyst

Ruben focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services. Prior to Silversmith, in the summers Ruben worked in business development at Pure Watercraft and as a QMS intern at Icertis. Reuben graduated from Georgetown University with a BBA in Finance and a minor in Science, Technology, and International Affairs.

Apurva Oak, Analyst

Apurva focuses on investments in Healthcare IT & Services. Prior to Silversmith, Apurva conducted research at the Cil Lab of University of California, San Francisco. While there, she focused on drug discovery and disease pathogenesis mechanisms for gastrointestinal diseases. Apurva graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a BS, summa cum laude, in Cellular and Molecular Biology and received a MA in Biotechnology from Columbia University.

Dade Ogunmuyiwa, Analyst

Dade focuses on investments in Healthcare IT & Services. Prior to Silversmith, Dade worked for a summer as an investor at Insight Partners where he covered Healthcare IT and SaaS. Prior to his time at Insight Partners, Dade developed a caregiver navigation platform for Alzheimer’s caregivers.  Dade graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Health and Society with a concentration in Healthcare Markets and Finance.

Edbert Wu, Analyst

Edbert focuses on investments in SaaS & Information Services. Prior to Silversmith, Edbert was a summer investment analyst at Palm Drive Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm in New York, and growth intern at Topline Pro, a startup helping expand the online presence of contractors. Edbert graduated from Harvard University with an AB in Economics, with honors, with a secondary in Government.