Morgan Stanley announced today that Michael Hehn and Eric Fry have joined Morgan Stanley as Managing Directors in Morgan Stanley Private Equity, the Firm’s private equity group. Mr. Fry joined from Metalmark in August 2007 based in New York; Mr. Hehn was most recently at Allianz Capital Partners and will join the Firm in December 2007 based in London. They will both be responsible for building the Firm's global private equity business for third-party investors, focusing on leveraged buyouts, corporate divestitures, sponsored recapitalizations, joint ventures and other direct investments in their respective regions.
Mr. Fry brings more than 15 years of private equity experience. He rejoins Morgan Stanley after serving as a Managing Director at Metalmark Capital from 2004 to 2007. Mr. Fry first joined Morgan Stanley in 1989 and Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in 1991; he was named a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley in 2001. Mr. Fry was a member of the investment committees of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners III, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners IV and the Morgan Stanley Global Emerging Markets Fund. He holds a B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude, from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Hehn brings a decade of private equity experience. He most recently served as director and a member of the executive committee at Allianz Capital Partners in Munich, Germany, focused on majority investments in Western Europe. He also worked at Merrill Lynch’s Mercury Private Equity (now HgCapital) and The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Hehn began his career at Andersen Consulting. He received a master of science from Graz University of Technology in Graz, Austria, and an M.B.A from Northwestern University.
“Since determining to reenter the global private equity business, we have assembled a team of top talent from both inside and outside Morgan Stanley,” said Steve Trevor, co-head of both Morgan Stanley Private Equity and the Merchant Banking Division. “Private equity investing is an important business to the Firm and with our strong leadership team in place we will capitalize on the Firm’s unique relationships around the world and utilize the full resources and capabilities of our firm to create industry-leading private equity products and, we believe, above-market returns for the investors we serve.”
Alan Jones, Managing Director and co-head of Morgan Stanley Private Equity commented: “Eric and Michael are excellent additions to our team. They both bring a depth of private equity experience that will prove invaluable as we build a world-class private equity investing platform. We believe that the ongoing globalization and transformation of the economy will produce continued private equity opportunities and that our solid team, coupled with the global Morgan Stanley platform, will be uniquely positioned to capitalize on these opportunities.”
Morgan Stanley Private Equity, part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Merchant Banking Division, makes private equity and equity-related investments on a global basis. Morgan Stanley Private Equity utilizes Morgan Stanley’s vast resources, including the Firm’s global franchise and relationships with leading corporates, management teams and financial sponsors, to source attractive opportunities for its investment funds. Morgan Stanley’s roots in private equity investing date back to 1985 with the Morgan Stanley Capital Partners private equity funds. To date, Morgan Stanley Private Equity and its predecessor funds have invested nearly $6.5 billion of equity across a broad spectrum of industries.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 32 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
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