Altas is pleased to announce that Julie Barac has joined the firm as Manager, Human Resources.

Prior to joining Altas, Julie was a Manager in EY's People Advisory Practice. She advised clients across both private and public sectors on their HR function, including operating model strategy, service delivery design, process improvement initiatives, and digital transformation.

Julie studied at Wilfrid Laurier University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Dean’s List). Julie also holds a Certified Human Resources Professional designation, a Project Management Professional certification, and a certificate in Human Resources Law from Osgoode Hall Law School.

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Altas is pleased to announce that Hannah McGrath has joined the firm as Investor Relations Associate.

Prior to joining Altas, Hannah worked in Fundraising and Investor Relations at The Riverside Company in New York, where she was involved in the operational activities of raising capital and oversaw the client relationship management database.

Hannah studied at the University of British Columbia, where she earned a Bachelor of Commerce with a specialization in Finance from the Sauder School of Business (Degree with Honours, Dean's Honour Roll).

Altas is pleased to announce that Aryella Frommer has joined the firm as Partner, Head of Investor Relations.

Prior to joining Altas, Aryella spent nine years with Trian Partners where she served in various investor relations and business development roles since 2012. She was named Head of Investor Relations in 2015 and became a Partner of the Firm in 2018. Aryella led Trian’s investor relations, business development and client service efforts, globally. Aryella was also a member of Trian’s ESG Working Group and its Risk and Compliance Oversight Committee. Prior to joining Trian, Aryella served as a Sales and Relationship Management Associate at Goldman Sachs Asset Management and was a Sales Strategy and Business Development Analyst at Neuberger Berman. Aryella began her career as an analyst with Lehman Brothers Holdings in their Investment Management Division.

Aryella graduated with distinction and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) from Barnard College of Columbia University.

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Altas is pleased to announce that Jessica Delfino has joined the firm as a Principal.

Jessica joins us from Arsenal Capital Partners in New York, where she focused on investment opportunities in the specialty industrials sector and served on the board of directors of multiple portfolio companies. Prior to joining Arsenal, Jessica worked at Deutsche Bank in the Chemicals Investment Banking group in Toronto and New York.

Jessica holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University (Great Distinction) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (George F Baker Scholar).

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ROSEMONT, Ill., LOS ANGELES & TORONTO – September 1, 2021 – Tecta America Corporation (“Tecta America” or the “Company”), a national leader in commercial roofing services in the U.S., announced today that Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. (“LGP”) has completed a minority equity investment in the Company. Altas Partners, Tecta America’s principal shareholder, will remain the Company’s majority owner alongside the management team and LGP. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2000, when ten leading roofing contractors came together to form one, Tecta America has grown into a leading full-service commercial roofing company in the U.S., providing a comprehensive set of commercial roofing services to local and national customers across a variety of industries and end-markets. Tecta America employs more than 4,300 roofing professionals and operates across more than 85 locations in 32 states from coast to coast. The Company provides commercial re-roofing, service and maintenance, and new installation services.

“We are thrilled to continue our outstanding partnership with Altas and welcome our new equity partner, Leonard Green, as we execute our proven strategy,” said Dave Reginelli, Tecta America President & CEO. “During Altas’ ownership, our senior executive team, operating unit presidents, and thousands of dedicated employees have steadily built Tecta’s capabilities and footprint, growing organically and through strategic acquisitions. We are confident that Leonard Green’s experience building leading services companies will enable us to continue to grow in the years to come.”

“Over the course of our partnership, Tecta America has solidified its position as the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor,” said Scott Werry, a Managing Partner at Altas. “Our objective at Altas is to build market leaders into even stronger and more durable businesses in partnership with talented management teams, and today’s news represents an important milestone in our journey with Tecta. We are proud to be affiliated with Dave and the thousands of Tecta employees, and are excited to be partnering with a firm of Leonard Green’s caliber as we continue to build Tecta in the years ahead.”

“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Altas and the Tecta team,” said Evan Hershberg, Partner at LGP. “We have followed Tecta for many years and believe it is an outstanding business. Tecta has a proven track record of quality and delivers on its commitment to exceptional customer service. We look forward to supporting Tecta’s continued growth as the Company executes on the significant opportunities that lie ahead.”

About Tecta America

Tecta America is the nation’s premier commercial roofing contractor with more than 85 locations from coast to coast. Tecta America’s unyielding commitment to quality, expertise, and professionalism have helped it become the industry leader in commercial roofing. Providing commercial re-roofing, service and maintenance, and new installation services, Tecta America offers the responsiveness of a local roofing contractor backed by the resources and stability of a national provider. For more information: http://www.tectaamerica.com.

About Altas Partners

Altas Partners is an investment firm with a long-term orientation focused on acquiring significant interests in high-quality, market-leading businesses in partnership with outstanding management teams. Key elements of our approach include responsible capital structures, active ownership through strategic and operational support and an emphasis on sustainable value creation. We strive to deliver excellent investment returns for our investing partners. Altas invests on behalf of endowments, foundations, public pension funds and other institutional investors. For more information, please visit www.altas.com.

About LGP

LGP is a leading private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles with over $50 billion of assets under management. The firm partners with experienced management teams and often with founders to invest in market-leading companies. Since inception, LGP has invested in over 100 companies in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth equity, and selective public equity and debt positions. The firm primarily focuses on companies providing services, including consumer, business and healthcare services, as well as retail, distribution and industrials.

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Media Contacts

For Tecta America:

Robin Hollerich

rhollerich@tectaamerica.com

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For Altas:

Sard Verbinnen & Co

Julie Rudnick / Kevin Siegel

altas-svc@sardverb.com

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For LGP:

communications@leonardgreen.com

Altas Partners has completed a majority investment in Pye-Barker Fire (“Pye-Barker” or the “Company”), the leading independent fire protection services company in the U.S. 

Founded in 1946, the Company serves more than 80,000 commercial customers through its network of 1,000+ technicians located across 80 branches in 19 states. Service offerings include inspection, testing, maintenance, repair, and installation, with a primary focus on suppression (fire extinguishers and pre-engineered systems) and a secondary focus on sprinklers and alarms.

For more information, please visit www.pyebarkerfire.com

Altas Partners (“Altas”), a long-term oriented private equity investment firm, today announced the appointment of Robin Washington to the firm’s Advisory Board. A seasoned executive with deep leadership and financial experience across the healthcare and technology sectors, Ms. Washington joins a distinguished group of investors and executives who help Altas identify and invest in high-quality businesses across a range of industries.  

“We are excited to welcome Robin to the Altas Advisory Board,” said Andrew Sheiner, Founder and Managing Partner of Altas Partners. “Robin has more than two decades of experience driving the strategic and financial growth of global industry leaders. Her expertise, judgement and insight on a wide array of topics will be immensely valuable for our team and the executives who lead our businesses. "

In addition to her role at Altas as an Advisory Board member, Ms. Washington is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Alphabet, Inc., Honeywell International, Inc., and Salesforce.com. She serves as Chair of the leadership development and compensation committees for Alphabet, Inc. and Chair of the audit committee for Salesforce.com. Previously, Ms. Washington served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Gilead Sciences, Inc., from 2008 to 2019, where she oversaw Global Finance, Facilities and Operations, Investor Relations and the Information Technology organizations. Prior to Gilead, she served as Chief Financial Officer of Hyperion Solutions Inc., which was sold to Oracle Corporation in 2007. For additional background please visit www.altas.com/people. 

“I have great admiration for Altas’ talented team of investment professionals and its experience investing in and thoughtfully building great businesses as a true long-term partner,” said Ms. Washington. “I look forward to supporting the firm and working alongside portfolio company management teams as they develop and execute their most important strategic initiatives.”

Today is International Women’s Day and for the event Buyouts this week published its annual “Women in PE”. Among the 10 women private equity professionals featured in our 2021 line-up is Michelle Lung, a senior principal with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Lung told Buyouts she appreciates PE for its “highly creative, intellectually curious and talented individuals,” but she also sees the industry as one of the most demanding “when it comes to achieving work-life balance.”

This theme was taken up in an accompanying story by Chris Witkowsky: “Private equity has a stunning lack of women deal leaders”. Featured in the piece was Kathleen Taylor (pictured above), the former CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and since 2019 chair of Canadian long-term PE firm Altas Partners. Asked by Witkowsky what her hardest career decision was, Taylor said it was when she and her husband decided how they were going to raise a young family.

Taylor said this challenge was ultimately overcome by making “the choices that were right for our family and our careers.” Taylor was lucky, Witkowsky writes, because she worked for a company that had a progressive attitude toward work-life balance. This is not the case for many women in the business and financial worlds – above all in private equity, especially when it comes to women deal-makers.

Women make up 9.9% of partners in the PE industry and 6.4% of managing partners, according to Preqin’s 2020 Women in Alternatives report, Witkowsky notes. Women make up 19.7% of all PE employees, which has grown from 18.8% in 2017.

One glaring gap that still exists in private equity, Witkowsky writes, is at the deal partner level, including on investment committees. It is here where there is a dearth of female voices. Even the biggest firms, which have led the way in improving their processes for more inclusive recruiting, continue to have senior deal leadership dominated by men.

Among the few examples of women at the deal partner level are founders of PE firms. This describes Lisa Melchior, founder and managing partner of Canadian tech PE firm Vertu Capital, who was also interviewed by Witkowsky. The experience of Melchior, a former OMERS Private Equity executive, was a whirlwind during the years when she was having children and raising a family and maintaining a high-flying career of frequent global travel and long hours.

The life of a private equity mom is manageable, Melchior said. But it requires sacrifice and support. Add to this challenge the idea that many women feel the need to be twice as productive as their male colleagues: “I’m going to work twice as hard and be twice as good because I really want to be at the table,” Melchior said. “If you’re twice as good, they can’t deny you being at the table.”

Altas Partners is pleased to announce that Lisa Dymond has joined the firm as Head of Talent. In this newly created role, Lisa will lead talent-related matters at Altas and work with our management team partners to drive organizational effectiveness and success at Altas’ portfolio companies.

Lisa joins Altas from the Boston Consulting Group, where she spent 14 years, most recently leading the end-to-end talent strategy and operations for the firm’s Canadian practice. She previously served in a variety of roles at BCG, leading projects across a range of industries, counselling clients globally, and developing thought leadership on issues related to talent and organization. Lisa began her career in public opinion and market research at Pollara Strategic Insights.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Carleton University (Dean’s List) and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business (Dean’s List, Valedictorian).