Archives for May 23, 2013

J.F. Lehman & Company has added a new operating professional to it team with the hiring of Caroline Bibb as Managing Director, Operations.

Ms. Bibb will be involved in all aspects of the firm’s private equity investment program, from due diligence and evaluation of investment opportunities to development and execution of J.F. Lehman’s strategic plan for new portfolio companies. In particular, Ms. Bibb will focus on the operational evaluation, oversight and direction of portfolio companies from acquisition through exit.

“Carol is a seasoned industry executive with a background perfectly suited to her role at J.F. Lehman & Company. We expect she will be an outstanding addition to our operations team,” said Steve Brooks, a Partner with the firm. “We expect our portfolio companies to benefit immensely from Carol’s years of experience in running all aspects of successful businesses.”

Ms. Bibb has 30 years of management, operations and engineering experience. For more than a decade she was with Honeywell International where she managed operating units ranging in size from $220 million to $900 million and up to 3,000 employees. Most recently she served as a Senior Vice President and General Manager at Honeywell where she was responsible for a catalyst, adsorbents and specialties business of Honeywell that had $900 million in annual revenue. Prior to that role, Ms. Bibb served as President of Federal Manufacturing & Technologies, a business in Honeywell’s Defense platform. Ms. Bibb also served in a variety of management and engineering roles at AlliedSignal prior to its merger with Honeywell. She earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Tennessee Tech University and an MBA from The College of William & Mary.

J.F. Lehman & Company is a middle-market private equity firm focused primarily on the maritime, defense, and aerospace sectors. The firm was founded by Dr. John Lehman, who served six years as Secretary of the United States Navy. To date, J.F. Lehman has made investments in companies with an aggregate transaction value of approximately $1.6 billion. The firm was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in New York with additional offices in Washington, DC and London (www.jflpartners.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-23-13

Signal Hill Equity Partners has added Mayank Chadha and Sundri Sengupta to its team of professionals. Mr. Chadha and Ms. Sengupta will assist the firm’s portfolio companies in executing operational improvement plans and growth strategies.

“We are very excited to have Mayank and Sundri join us. Their unique experience will provide depth to our portfolio management team and bring in-house the critical skills and services required to grow and improve our portfolio companies.” said James Johnson, Managing Partner of Signal Hill.

Mr. Chadha has joined Signal Hill as Director of Operations and will provide operational, manufacturing and business process improvement services to Signal Hill’s portfolio companies. He previously worked in McKinsey’s manufacturing center of competence, where he designed and implemented several operational and manufacturing improvements across various industries including chemicals, automotive and pharmaceuticals. Prior to his time at McKinsey, he worked in manufacturing roles at Cummins and Rockwell Industries where he led several lean manufacturing and process improvement projects. Mr. Chadha holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University, Canada. He also holds a Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from VIT University in India.

Ms. Sengupta has joined Signal Hill as Director of Human Resources-Talent and will provide talent services to Signal Hill’s portfolio companies. She has over 12 years of experience in developing and integrating human resources solutions for local and international businesses. Starting with talent acquisition initiatives for companies like Pepsi, Citibank, Phillips, and IBM, Ms. Sengupta subsequently specialized in engineering, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries in Canada. Most recently, she worked with financial services provider, G4S Cash Solutions, as National Human Resources and Recruitment Manager. Ms. Sengupta has a Bachelors degree in both English and Education and is a post-graduate in Human Resources Management from the Sheridan Institute of Technology.

Signal Hill invests from $5 million to $20 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $20 million to $50 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturing, consumer products, distribution and business services. Signal Hill is currently investing its second private equity fund, Signal Hill Equity Partners II, LP, with $100 million of capital commitments. The firm is based in Toronto (www.signalhillequity.com).

© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-23-13