Salomon Smith Barney Announces Major Expansion of Private Equity and Venture Capital Fund Businesses; Consulting Agreement With Harvard Business School Professors

Business Wire, Nov 19, 1999

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19 1999--

Salomon Smith Barney is pleased to announce several senior appointments, hirings and consulting agreements focused on expanding the Firm's private equity businesses.

Michael Klein, Vice-Chairman and Global Head of the Financial Entrepreneurs Group and Private Equity Group at Salomon Smith Barney, has announced that Josh Lerner and Paul Gompers, both of Harvard Business School, have joined Salomon Smith Barney to work with the Private Equity Group. Josh Lerner is a Professor of Business Administration, and Paul Gompers is an Associate Professor of Business Administration. Both Professors have joint appointments in the Finance and Entrepreneurial Management units of Harvard Business School, and are also Faculty Research Fellows at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Michael Klein noted: "Josh Lerner and Paul Gompers are at the forefront of academic research in private equity and venture capital. We look forward to working with them in building a more sophisticated and thoughtful approach to analyzing and evaluating private equity deals and funds."

Additionally, Salomon Smith Barney has named John Barber to be Deputy Head of the Financial Entrepreneurs Group. John Barber formerly had been a senior Managing Director in Salomon Smith Barney's Public Equity Capital Markets Group.

Michael Klein also announced four new hires in the Firm's Private Equity Fund Group: Loren Boston, Neil Banta, Tina Courpas and Carolyn Choi. All four joined after leaving Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown's private equity finance group (a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank) within the last two months.

Loren Boston is joining as a Managing Director and Head of the Private Equity Fund Group - a 12-person team headquartered in New York with offices in Chicago, London and Amsterdam. Upon leaving Deutsche Bank, Loren was a Managing Director responsible for private equity fund distribution in the Northeast U.S. Loren joined Bankers Trust Company (later merged into Deutsche Bank) in 1997, having previously worked for BZW Asia, based in Hong Kong, as well as for Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. Loren reports to John Barber.

Neil Banta is rejoining Salomon Smith Barney as a Director, responsible for marketing to U.S. institutional investors located primarily in the Midwest and Southwest U.S. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank as a Director in 1998, Neil worked for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter from 1993 until 1998, and for Salomon Brothers from 1982 through 1993.

Tina Courpas is joining as a Vice President, responsible for originating and structuring the sale of private equity funds on a global basis. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank in 1998, Tina was an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in private equity and buyout funds from 1994 to 1998. Prior to her work as an attorney, Tina was an analyst in the Global Finance Department of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Carolyn Choi is joining as a Financial Analyst. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Carolyn previously was involved in wireless technology research and consulting at The Yankee Group.

Two other professionals within Salomon Smith Barney have recently moved internally to join the private equity team as well: L. Michelle Morris and Sanford Rosenberg. Michelle Morris is a Vice President, responsible for marketing and distribution. Michelle previously was a Senior Manager in the Firm's Alternative Investment Group, responsible for marketing private equity partnerships to family offices and middle-market institutional investors.

Sanford (Sandy) Rosenberg is an Associate, responsible for origination and execution. Sandy was previously advising and working with leveraged buyout firms in Salomon Smith Barney's larger Financial Entrepreneurs Group.

Commenting on the appointments, John Barber said: "Salomon Smith Barney is committed to building the highest quality private equity group on Wall Street. These six experienced professionals add to an already significant private equity franchise, which we will continue to grow over the coming months. We are now well positioned to raise large amounts of private equity capital, through direct private placements and funds on a global basis. Over the coming months, Salomon Smith Barney will be increasingly recognised as Wall Street's leading private equity firm."

Salomon Smith Barney is a global, full-service investment banking and securities brokerage firm. The firm's 11,100 Financial Consultants located in approximately 467 offices across the United States, service over 6.2 million client accounts, representing over $816 billion in client assets. Salomon Smith Barney is a subsidiary of Citigroup.

Citigroup (NYSE:C), the most global financial services company, provides some 100 million consumers, corporations, governments and institutions in 100 countries with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage and asset management. The 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group brought together such brand names as Citibank, Travelers, Salomon Smith Barney, Commercial Credit (now named CitiFinancial), and Primerica under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella. Additional information may be found at: www.Citigroup.com.