(Bloomberg) — Bain Capital promoted four long-time executives to chairmen and managing partners — roles that are a first in the partnerships 32-year history.
Bain, which operates by a management committee, named Josh Bekenstein and Steve Pagliuca as co-chairmen of the Boston-based firm, according to a letter to clients, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg. John Connaughton and Jonathan Lavine will be co-managing partners of the alternative-asset manager, overseeing its daily operations.
Connaughton and Lavine will have responsibility for leadership of the firm, including setting the strategic direction of the partnership and managing the firm day-to-day, the letter said. Bekenstein and Pagliuca will work on strategy, new initiatives and major deals.
The firm also renamed its hedge fund and credit divisions in a re-branding that it says reflects its expanding global operations. Its $30 billion credit arm, Sankaty Advisors, will become Bain Capital Credit. The $4 billion long-short hedge fund unit, Brookside Capital, will be Bain Capital Public Equity, the letter said. The firms $38 billion private equity and $3 billion venture capital groups already use the Bain name.
In recognition of our continued global expansion and the value of cross-platform integration and expertise, we have decided to use one unified brand for all of our businesses, Bains managing directors wrote in the letter.
A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.
Executive Roles
Started in 1984 by Mitt Romney and other partners from consulting firm Bain & Co., Bain Capital is the largest U.S. alternative-asset manager thats opted to remain closely held rather than sell shares to the public. The firm oversees about $75 billion across its four business lines.
Romney left in 1999 to serve as chief executive officer of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was then elected governor of Massachusetts and in 2012 was the Republican nominee for U.S. president.
Bekenstein, who is 57 and leads private equity deals in the consumer and retail industries, was a founding member of Bain in 1984. Pagliuca, 61, who leads technology, media, telecom and financial services private equity investments, joined in 1989. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in a special election in Massachusetts in 2009.
Connaughton, who is 50, joined Bain in 1989 and leads its private equity business. Lavine, 49, is the chief investment officer of the credit unit, which he started in 1997.
In the past decade, Bain has stepped up its deal activity outside the U.S., owning companies in India, China, Japan, South Africa and Chile.The firms investors have also broadened beyond the high-net-worth families and endowments it relied on at the outset, to include foundations, pension systems and sovereign wealth funds around the world.
