Private equity firm Silver Lake promotes new leaders

Private equity firm taps Egon Durban and Greg Mondre as new Co-CEOs

Silver Lake is rejiggering its top leadership ranks, elevating two long-time executives to lead the firm as it enters a new chapter in its growth.

The firm, which has been run since 2011 by four managing partners, has named two of those executives, Egon Durban and Greg Mondre, to the newly-created role of co-chief executive officer, according to people close to Silver Lake.

They will oversee Silver Lake’s day-to-day operations, with Durban based in Menlo Park, California, and Mondre based in New York. Managing partner Ken Hao will become the firm’s chair and take charge of internal growth initiatives, the people said.

Durban and Mondre have been with the firm since its founding in 1999. Durban, 46 years old, is best known for leading Silver Lake’s investments in computer-maker Dell Technologies and internet-phone company Skype. Mondre, 45, led the firm’s deal for internet domain registry GoDaddy among others. Hao, 51, led its investments in chip maker Broadcom.

Mike Bingle, the fourth of the group, will become managing partner emeritus and assume the new role of vice chairman. Bingle, 47, is taking a less active position at the firm for personal reasons. He will continue to serve on the investment committee of Silver Lake’s existing funds and on the boards of several portfolio companies, the people said.

He will also seek new investment opportunities for the firm on a deal-by-deal basis and will manage his family office out of Silver Lake’s New York office.

The firm is promoting Joe Osnoss, a 17-year veteran who already serves on the investment committees for two of its strategies, to managing partner. Osnoss, 41, has played roles in numerous Silver Lake investments, including technology provider Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, high-speed trading firm Virtu Financial and travel technology company Sabre, as well as its recent deal for background-check provider First Advantage.

The transition comes as Silver Lake is expected to begin raising the next iteration of its flagship private-equity fund, known as Silver Lake Partners in the coming months.

It has been investing out of a $15bn fund it finished raising in 2017. The firm is also expected to raise a second generation of its smaller Alpine strategy, which makes structured equity and debt investments in large technology and technology-enabled businesses.

Silver Lake’s recent deal for a 10% stake in Manchester City soccer club owner City Football Group and its $1bn investment in Motorola Solutions, announced in September, were done out of its Alpine fund. Silver Lake’s most recent flagship fund is considered too young to have meaningful performance data, but its previous vehicle, completed in 2013, had returns net of fees of 28.4% as of March 31, according to pension fund data.

This is the second major leadership change for Silver Lake, which was founded in 1999 by Jim Davidson, David Roux, Roger McNamee and Glenn Hutchins. Durban, Mondre, Hao and Bingle, all of whom joined the firm when they were in their 20s, officially took over leadership from the founders in 2011.

Silver Lake manages more than $43bn in assets. It focuses on partnering with existing management to finance growing companies that either focus on technology or are going through a technology-related evolution.

Source: Financial News

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