Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe Taps Spencer Stuart and Bespoke Partners to Fill Senior Posts
October 29, 2019 – Executive search firms Spencer Stuart and Bespoke Partners have partnered to fill two key leadership roles for private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe Partners (WCAS).
Joining the PE firm are Tim Clifford, former president and CEO of Frontline Education, a school administration software company, and Emanuele “Manny” Conti, former CEO of Opus Global, a regulatory and risk management software (SaaS) company. The firm also brought aboard another operating partner, John Fay.
Mr. Clifford brings over 30 years of technology leadership experience to WCAS in a variety of software subsectors including cloud computing, human capital management, education technology, enterprise resource planning and big data analytics. Prior to his role at Frontline Education, he was a senior executive at Automatic Data Processing and the co-founder and CEO of Workscape, one of the first web-based HR software providers, which was ultimately acquired by ADP.
Mr. Conti has more than 25 years of leadership experience in software, business information and technology-enabled services. Prior to Opus, he was the CEO of Kroll Inc. and before that, president of the North America and international divisions of Dun & Bradstreet. Earlier in his career, he had management roles at Qwest Communications, Ernst & Young and General Motors.
Mr. Fay has 30 years of experience in the supply chain/logistics and financial technology industries. Most recently, he was the CEO of INTTRA, the world’s largest logistics e-commerce network.
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Talented Leaders
“Tim, Manny and John are talented leaders with distinguished records of achievement within the technology space,” said Anthony J. de Nicola, WCAS president and managing partner. “We expect to tap into their deep domain expertise and operating knowledge to identify compelling investment opportunities and partner with our management teams to help build leading technology companies. We are thrilled they are joining our team.”
Mssrs. Clifford, Conti and Fay will work closely with technology general partners Mike Donovan, Ryan Harper, Chris Hooper and Eric Lee and the broader WCAS technology team.
New York City-based WCAS is a leading U.S. private equity firm focused on two target industries: technology and healthcare. Since its founding in 1979, the firm’s strategy has been to partner with outstanding management teams and build value for its investors through a combination of operational improvements, growth initiatives and strategic acquisitions.
WCAS has experience in acquiring founder-led businesses and corporate carve-outs. The firm has raised and managed funds totaling over $27 billion of committed capital. Over the past four decades, WCAS has successfully invested over $11 billion of equity in 104 technology companies through its 13 private equity funds.
A Proven Record
Spencer Stuart’s private equity practice has a proven track record of identifying and recruiting PE-ready executives. The firm has conducted more than 3,000 assignments for private equity firms and their portfolio companies over the past decade, advising on executive talent and completing searches for partners and principals, investment teams, senior management and functional leaders in marketing, supply chain, sales and other key areas.
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Executive search firms College Sports Solutions (CSS) and Buffkin / Baker have collaborated to recruit Ohio University director of athletics Jim Schaus as the new commissioner of the Southern Conference. Atlanta-based College Sports was chosen for its expertise in finding athletics leaders, while Buffkin/ Baker, based in Brentwood, TN, offered prowess in tapping top academic talent.
The search firm has a long history of recruiting CEOs and CFOs for private equity-backed companies. More than one-quarter of the firm’s global CEO and CFO assignments are conducted for these clients. The firm serves clients across the spectrum of investment stages and disciplines through advisory services that include C-level executive search, board and CEO succession, board and executive assessment, IPO, pre- and post-merger integration, onboarding and management benchmarking.
Over the last year, Bespoke Partners conducted over 100 searches. Since its inception, the firm has completed more than 400 search assignments. Its expertise includes CEO, CFO, C-level and VP-level searches across functions, as well as board of directors and internal private equity operating partner searches. The firm’s private equity clients include: KKR, Francisco Partners, H.I.G. Capital and Apax Partners, among others.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
