The Leveraged Buyout
Today’s LBO environment remains challenging. Fund sizes are shrinking, competition for attractive companies is heating up and the macroeconomic environment is uncertain. Panelists will discuss the key challenges facing LBO managers today, and how firms can continue to create value despite these headwinds. Topics will also focus on how firms evaluate quality investment opportunities, how they can maintain an edge over the competition in deal creation, and ways they aim to maintain consistent returns.
Moderator
Margaret Cannella `76, Professor, Columbia Business School
Margaret Cannella is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, teaching a seminar she developed entitled “Private Equity, the Credit Markets and Leveraged Buy-Outs.” Margaret is also a board member of CHF Finance International, a for-profit joint venture of the World Bank, and CHF, a thirty-year old micro lending firm which specializes in middle market credit in developing economies. In addition, she is on the board of Pierre Foods, owned by the private equity firm Oaktree Capital and teaches leveraged finance and credit markets courses in the Federal Reserve System and at JPMorgan. In 2009, Margaret retired from JPMorgan after more than thirty years in financial services in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. At JPMorgan, she built U.S. Equity and Global Credit Research; both currently rank number one in the Institutional Investor Survey. She chaired the firm’s capital markets strategy function and also represented the industry on SIFMA’s committees dealing with regulations related to research and banking. In 2007, Margaret herself was named to the Fixed Income Analyst Hall of Fame in 2007 for her publications on the credit crisis. As a sell-side bond analyst from 1992 to 2004, Margaret was ranked number one or two in the Institutional Investor Survey for her coverage of retail and consumer products companies. Prior to joining JPMorgan in 1998, for ten years, Margaret was a Senior Analyst in the Leveraged Finance Division of Citibank and Citibank’s Head of Global Research. Prior to that, Margaret was with Chase Manhattan Asia Limited in Hong Kong as an investment banker covering Southeast Asian financial institutions. Margaret is a graduate of Princeton University with an A.B. in East Asian Studies and a graduate of the Columbia Business School with an MBA in finance.
Panelists
Mark Anderson, Managing Director, GTCR
Mark joined GTCR in 2000 and is currently a Managing Director of the firm. He previously worked at Gracie Capital and at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. He holds an MBA from Harvard BusinessSchool and a BS from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. Mark currently is a director of CAMP Systems, Global Traffic Network, IQNavigator, Landmark Aviation, Mondee, Sorenson Communications and Telecom Lease Advisors. He has been instrumental in other GTCR investments, including Skylight Financial , Solera and Transaction Network Services. Mark is active in education, serving on the board of the Chicago Foundation for Education, a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the educational experience of Chicago’s public school children. In addition, Mark is a member of the Chicago area Jefferson Scholars Selection Committee for University of Virginia.
Kevin Feinblum '00, Principal, Advent International
Kevin Feinblum joined Advent International in 2009. His previous private equity experience includes working with companies in the industrial, chemical, paper and retail industries. Before joining Advent, Kevin worked at Sun Capital Partners, a middle market private equity firm focused on investing in distressed and underperforming companies. At Sun Capital Partners Kevin participated in successful investments in several US and European companies in the industrial, chemical and manufacturing sectors. Prior to Sun Capital Kevin was part of the Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Group, a private equity division of Lehman Brothers Inc. that focused on leverage buyouts of middle-market companies. Kevin began his career with Salomon Brothers Inc. as an analyst in the Financial Institutions Group within investment banking, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions of banks and finance companies.
Adam Reinmann `04, Principal, Onex
Adam is a Principal at Onex, one of North America’s oldest private equity firms currently managing more than $14 billion of proprietary and third party capital. Adam is responsible for Onex' origination and due diligence efforts in the chemicals and specialty materials industries. Since joining Onex, Adam has worked on several private equity transactions, including the acquisitions of The Warranty Group, Skilled Healthcare, Cypress Insurance Group, RSI Home Products and JELD-WEN Holding, inc. During 2009, Adam served as a member of the executive management team at Celestica, Inc., where he was actively involved in developing Celestica`s growth and operational improvement strategy. Before joining Onex, Adam was with JPMorgan’s Leveraged Finance Group for eight years, where he led financings for financial sponsors and corporate clients, principally in the chemical, industrial and healthcare industries. Adam currently serves on the board of Cypress Insurance. Adam holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. from Binghamton University.
Jeff Rowbottom `97, Managing Director, KKR
Jeff Rowbottom joined KKR in 2009 and is a member of KKR Capital Markets, serving as co-head for North America. At KKR, he has played a significant role in arranging financings for portfolio companies including TASC, Del Monte, Academy Sports + Outdoor, First Data, NXP, Toys R Us and US Foods. Prior to joining KKR he was a Managing Director and head of U.S. High Yield Capital Markets at Barclays Capital. Perviously, he was a senior member of the Goldman Sachs High Yield Syndicate desk. Jeff received a B.S. from the State University of New York at Albany and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. He is active in non-profit organizations including Autism Speaks and is a board member of the Melanoma Research Alliance.
Taurie Zeitzer, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Taurie Zeitzer is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She focuses her practice on mergers & acquisitions, private equity and complex corporate transactions, including leveraged buyouts, cross-border transactions, carve-out transactions, distressed acquisitions, joint ventures, co-investments and divestitures.
Taurie has completed numerous complex billion dollar cross-border and carve-out transactions on behalf of some of the largest and most seasoned global private equity firms. She also frequently represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in related matters, including financings, follow-on acquisitions, dispositions, corporate governance and management equity and incentive plans.
In addition, Taurie advises private equity funds and senior deal professionals with respect to carried interest, compensation and governance arrangements.