Kian Capital Partners has added Jordan Lee to its team as a principal to focus on new investments and to continue to grow Kian’s operations and origination capabilities.
Mr. Lee will be based in Charlotte and will be active sourcing, executing and managing new and existing investments across the firm’s portfolio with a focus on the tech-enabled business services and healthcare services sectors.
“The addition of Jordan to our senior team expands Kian’s capacity to be a high-impact partner supporting management teams to build leading lower middle-market companies for long-term success,” said Kevin McCarthy, a co-founder and partner at Kian. “Jordan has a strong track record of partnering with management teams to scale companies within our key investment sectors that will create value for all our stakeholders. More importantly, he has the character, values and work ethic that fit very well within Kian’s culture and growth strategy.”
Prior to joining Kian, Mr. Lee was a managing director at Nashville-based Starr Investment Holdings (a 2021 spinout from Whistler Capital Partners) where he sourced, underwrote, and managed middle-market business services and healthcare services investments. Before Starr, Mr. Lee was a vice president at Pamplona Capital Management and an associate at Great Hill Partners. He began his career in investment banking at Deutsche Bank and Oppenheimer & Co.
“I am thrilled to join the Kian team. I have great respect for the firm’s seasoned and talented team of investment professionals and disciplined origination strategy focused on driving value creation,” said Mr. Lee. “Kian has a reputation for being a trusted partner to leadership teams with a highly disciplined process-based investment approach in the middle market—a unique advantage and powerful value proposition. Kian is in the midst of a strategic evolution, and I am excited to be a part of helping execute this growth story.”
The hiring of Mr. Lee follows Kian’s May 2022 addition of Thomas Bullock and Doyle Silvia as associates, and Mikaela Palma as a senior accountant.
“We are energized by the expansion of our team and the trajectory of our firm,” said Rick Cravey, a co-founder and partner at Kian. “This is another strategic step in Kian’s vision as we continue to grow the firm and accelerate our ability to deploy capital—all while staying true to our focus on the underserved lower middle market.”
Charlotte and Atlanta-based Kian makes both control and minority investments of $7 million to $30 million of equity and subordinated debt in companies that have revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $2 million to $15 million. Sectors of interest include consumer, services, specialty manufacturing and value-added distribution.
© 2022 Private Equity Professional | August 16, 2022
