Gryphon Investors has added Robert Grady to its investment team as a Partner. Mr. Grady will lead the firm’s General Industries Group, one of its four areas of investment focus.
“We are delighted to welcome Bob, who is truly an exceptional person with an extensive track record of success and leadership that will help drive our General Industries Group and overall firm,” said David Andrews, Gryphon’s Founder and Managing General Partner. “Bob is a deeply-experienced private equity partner who has been an investor with us since Gryphon’s formation, both through our funds and directly as a co-investor, and now all of our limited partners will benefit from his considerable business and investment expertise. He also brings to the firm a wealth of experience in investment banking, government service and economic analysis, along with an extensive range of relationships which will enhance our deal flow and investment decision-making.”
Mr. Grady has more than 20 years experience in private equity. Prior to joining Gryphon, he spent five years as General Partner and Managing Director of the Cheyenne Capital Fund, a $500 million private equity fund that achieved top-decile performance among similar vintage private equity fund-of-funds. Over the same time period, Mr. Grady was Chairman, as a non-paid volunteer, of the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the state’s $78 billion pension plan.
From 2000 to 2009, Mr. Grady was a Partner, Managing Director, and Global Head of Venture & Growth Capital at The Carlyle Group. Before his tenure at Carlyle, he spent seven years at Robertson Stephens & Co., including as a Partner and Managing Director. Earlier in his career, from 1989 to 1993, Mr. Grady served in the White House as a senior policy advisor to President George H.W. Bush. He held a number of key roles, among them Deputy Assistant to the President, Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management & Budget (OMB), and OMB Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science. Mr. Grady holds an AB from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford.
Gryphon Investors makes leveraged acquisitions and growth investments in middle-market companies. The firm invests from $25 million to $150 million of capital in companies with sales ranging from $50 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer and retail, automotive, chemical, general manufacturing, health care and hotels. The firm is based in San Francisco (www.gryphoninvestors.com).
“I have known David for many years and I admire the excellent track record and differentiated business model Gryphon has built. In my view, the middle market in private equity offers the best value and the most interesting set of investment opportunities,” said Mr. Grady. “Gryphon’s specialized and operationally-oriented strategies for transforming companies are especially motivating to me. Gryphon is recognized by industry analysts as one of the country’s most consistently-successful private equity firms with top-decile returns and I am excited by the opportunity to join the team and help continue to build a world-class firm.”
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 2-26-15
