HGGC Adds Nine, Promotes Four Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HGGC, a leading middle-market private equity firm, today announced that it is expanding its team with nine new hires across investment and operations functions. These additions—all of which come to HGGC from blue-chip financial and business brands—will help to ensure that HGGC has the talent and bandwidth to execute its successful investment strategy and foster portfolio company value creation as it continues its growth trajectory.

"As we continue to grow our portfolio and build value in our companies, we're very excited that we have been able to continue to recruit and retain some of the industry's best talent," said Rich Lawson, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of HGGC. "These promotions and additions come only five months after a similar growth announcement, and we see no slowdown in our current trajectory."

The promotions and additions cap a highly successful first half of 2020, which included the firm's first all-virtual annual meeting and first platform investment from Fund IV, PCF Insurance, as well as 28 other transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since inception in 2007, HGGC has completed more than 180 platform investments, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate transaction value of over $26 billion.

"Our new hires bring differentiated skills and unique backgrounds to the table, and we're confident they will be key to our growth as we close out this year," added Steve Young, President and Co-Founder of HGGC. "This group has the experience and intellect to execute great deals, allowing us to create momentum in today's marketplace."

Promoted team members include:

Colin Phinisey, promoted to Head of Debt Capital Markets
Phinisey, who joined HGGC in 2018, leads debt capital markets efforts and is responsible for assisting all portfolio company financing activities, including original buyouts, recapitalizations, acquisitions and refinancings. Previously, he worked in Deutsche Bank's Leveraged Finance Group for more than eight years. Phinisey holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Wake Forest University and an MBA from the University of Virginia.

Peter Cozzi, promoted to Vice President
Cozzi, who joined HGGC in 2017, is active in the firm's Fund IV investment in PCF Insurance, Fund III investment in Nutraceutical International Corporation and the Fund II investment in Integrity. Prior to joining HGGC, Cozzi was an Investment Banking Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he focused on leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, and debt offerings. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Vanderbilt University.

Hao Qin, promoted to Vice President
Qin, who joined HGGC in 2018, is active in the firm's Fund III investments in Denodo and Monotype, as well as the Fund II investment in Dealer-FX. Before joining HGGC, he worked as an Associate at Onex Partners, where he evaluated potential acquisitions and conducted due diligence on new investment opportunities. He also spent time as an Investment Banking Analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Qin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and finance from the University of Waterloo.

Patrick Malanga, promoted to Senior Associate
Malanga, who joined HGGC in 2018, is active in the firm's Fund IV investment in PCF Insurance, Fund III investment in RPX, as well as the Fund II investments in Aventri and Selligent. Prior to joining HGGC, he was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Financial Sponsors Group at Credit Suisse. Malanga holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and accounting from New York University.

In addition to the above promotions, Victor Rudo has recently returned to HGGC as Vice President following his completion of the MBA program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Complementary to these promotions, the operations team has added three new members:

Gokula Gundamaraj, Portfolio Valuation Associate
Gundamaraj has joined the operations team as an Associate of Portfolio Valuation. Prior to joining HGGC, she served as a Finance Manager in Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, where she provided transaction and corporate finance services in support of financial reporting, tax planning and strategic planning initiatives. She also earned experience as a Financial Analyst at The Brenner Group. Gundamaraj holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in technology and mechanical engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and an MBA in finance from Osmania University.

Eva Yin, Senior Fund Accountant
Yin has joined the operations team as a Senior Fund Accountant. Previously, she worked at Asia Alternatives Management in San Francisco, after earning accounting experience at Entelo and Allison+Partners. Yin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from San Francisco State University.

Melody Yuan, Corporate Accounting Manager
Yuan has joined the operations team as Corporate Accounting Manager. Before HGGC, she earned experience across finance and accounting roles at Peery Arrillaga, Artiman Ventures, Venrock, Prospect Venture Partners, Embarcadero Capital Partners, The Marcus & Millichap Company and McMorgan & Company. Yuan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southeast University and an MBA from Columbus State University.

Six investment associates have been added to form HGGC's newest class:

Sarbari Bhattacharjee – Bhattacharjee was previously an Analyst in the Healthcare Group at Barclays Investment Bank. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in applied mathematics with a concentration in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael Ellis – Ellis previously served as an Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Brigham Young University.

Guneev Lamba – Lamba joined from Moelis & Company where he served as an Investment Banking Analyst. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Joanne So – So was previously an Investment Banking Associate at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. 

Aaron Wen – Wen previously worked as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Technology Group at William Blair. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree in international economics, cum laude, from Georgetown University. 

Stewart White – White previously served as an Investment Banking Analyst at Evercore Partners. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Rice University

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About HGGC
HGGC is a leading middle-market private equity firm with $4.3 billion in cumulative capital commitments. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., HGGC is distinguished by its Advantaged Investing approach that enables the firm to source and acquire scalable businesses through partnerships with management teams, founders and sponsors who reinvest alongside HGGC, creating a strong alignment of interests. Over its history, HGGC has completed more than 180 platform investments, add-on acquisitions, recapitalizations and liquidity events with an aggregate transaction value of over $26 billion. More information, including a complete list of current and former portfolio companies is available at www.hggc.com.

SOURCE HGGC

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