Financial Services Veteran to Bolster Merchant Bank's Advisory and Investment Activities

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Tri-Artisan Partners LLC, a privately held merchant bank engaged in principal investment activities, today announced that Jerry Fadden has been named Managing Director at the firm. Mr. Fadden, 49, is a 20-year financial services and Wall Street industry veteran who has held senior management positions at leading firms involved in insurance, reinsurance, and securities brokerage. Earlier in his career Mr. Fadden was an investment banker, focusing on private equity transactions and mergers and acquisitions.

At Tri-Artisan, Mr. Fadden will be engaged both in the firm's private equity investment and advisory activities. Since its creation in 2002, Tri-Artisan has served as an investor and financial advisor on high profile private equity transactions across a range of industries.

Earlier this year, Tri-Artisan Partners LLC acted as financial advisor to NRDC Equity Partners, LLC on its announced acquisition of Lord & Taylor from Federated Department Stores, Inc. In addition, Tri-Artisan Capital Partners, LLC recently co-invested alongside Oaktree Capital Management in its joint venture with Smithfield Food's when it acquired Sara Lee's European Meats business. In other transactions Tri-Artisan Capital Partners, LLC co-invested alongside Apollo Management in its acquisition of Linen 'n Things and Brazos Private Equity Partners in its acquisition of Fuel-Tank Systems LLC, among other transactions.

"Jerry's leadership and operating experience in the financial services industry will be of great value to Tri-Artisan and our clients," said Tri-Artisan co-founder Gerald H. Cromack. "In addition to Jerry's recognizable success leading acquisition and capital raising transactions at several insurers and reinsurers, he brings a unique perspective to our firm having also had an extensive career on Wall Street in M&A and private equity, which makes him an ideal fit for Tri-Artisan."

"Tri-Artisan's approach of combining merchant banking services with the management expertise of its operating executive network of current and former corporate CEO's is a perfect fit with my background and experience," said Fadden. "I'm looking forward to working closely with Tri-Artisan's network of senior executives in offering differentiating advisory services and sourcing attractive investment opportunities for the firm and our investors."

Prior to joining Tri-Artisan Partners, Mr. Fadden was engaged as a turnaround consultant, serving most recently as Interim Chief Financial Officer for a distressed U.S. manufacturer of aluminum and vinyl windows.

From 2002 through 2003 Mr. Fadden was President and Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Underwriters Holdings, Ltd., a property casualty reinsurer. He led the company through its initial public offering in 2002, raising over $1.0 billion in capital. Mr. Fadden had been Chief Executive Officer of its predecessor, St. Paul Re, the reinsurance division of The St. Paul Companies.

Mr. Fadden served as Chief Financial Officer of the PaineWebber Group, the publicly traded securities brokerage firm, from 1999 to 2002. Following the merger of Paine Webber and UBS, Mr. Fadden served as Director of Strategic Development in the Office of the Chairman of Paine Webber.

From 1996 to 1999 Mr. Fadden was a financial executive in the reinsurance industry serving as Chief Financial Officer of Equus Re, a start-up reinsurance company and Chief Financial Officer of NAC Re Corp., a publicly traded reinsurance firm.

From 1990 to 1996 Mr. Fadden held several executive positions at The Travelers Group, and its predecessor, Primerica Corporation. He was Treasurer at the parent company, The Travelers Group, Chief Financial Officer of Primerica's property and casualty insurance operation, and head of the Financial Planning and Analysis Group.

From 1986 through 1990 Mr. Fadden was an investment banker in the mergers and acquisitions and merchant banking departments of Lehman Brothers, Inc. Mr. Fadden began his investment banking career at E.F. Hutton, where he was involved in executing principal investments in private equity transactions.

Early in his career Mr. Fadden was a commercial banker at Union Bank in Los Angeles and The Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, where he completed its credit training program. Mr. Fadden holds a B.A in Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut.

About Tri-Artisan Partners LLC

Tri-Artisan Capital Partners, LLC ("Tri-Artisan Capital") is a privately held merchant bank engaged in principal investment activities. Tri-Artisan Partners LLC is a subsidiary of Tri-Artisan Capital engaged in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising services. The Tri-Artisan entities differentiate themselves by complementing the expertise of their senior Wall Street professionals with the skill set of over 50 highly successful, current and former operating executives of leading companies, each of whom is an investor in Tri-Artisan Capital. These executives represent a cross section of major industry sectors of the economy including consumer/retailing, media, industrial, healthcare, technology and financial and business services. Tri-Artisan Capital counts among its investors some of the leading U.S. and international private equity firms and financial institutions. Website: http://www.tri-artisan.com. Tri-Artisan Partners LLC is a NASD member.

_______________________________________________________________

Source: Tri-Artisan Partners LLC

Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2006 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.