Catching up with Gretchen Perkins; diving into payment processing with Angela Zhang

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The Wire

Mar. 3, 2022

Catching up with Gretchen Perkins; diving into payment processing with Angela Zhang

Good morning, dealmakers. MK Flynn here, with today’s Wire.

This morning on PE Hub, we’re featuring a Q&A with Gretchen Perkins as part of our series of interviews with high-profile private equity professionals.

Perkins sets the standard for deal sourcing in the private equity industry. She was one of the first dealmakers to professionalize the role of business development in PE.

After more than a decade at Huron Capital in Detroit, Perkins moved to Florida to help launch Avance Investment Management (which has offices in Miami and New York). The firm was founded by David Perez, Luis Zaldivar and Erik Scott, who all worked together previously at Palladium Equity Partners. Avance recently celebrated its first anniversary, and the firm is one of a dozen emerging managers that we’re keeping an eye on at PE Hub and Buyouts.

It’s been a busy first year for Avance. The firm invested in three platform companies last year: a personal care ingredients products distribution business (Wholesale Supplies Plus), an insurance brokerage business focused on the Hispanic population (UniVista Insurance), and a construction equipment leasing business (Synergy Infrastructure Holdings). Check out the full interview.

Women’s History Month. Earlier this week, PE Hub and Buyouts announced our Women in private equity: The class of 2022, and throughout the month, we’ll be featuring dealmakers from the special report in the Wire.

Today, let’s take a look at Angela Zhang, director, GI Partners.

Developing deep knowledge in the fast-growing subsector of payment processing is the secret to Zhang’s success. The strategy led to a partial exit for portfolio company Daxko last year and a promotion to the role of director this year.

For more on Zhang and all the dealmakers in our Women in private equity report, read the story.

That’s all for now.

Until tomorrow,

MK

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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Europe’s dependency on Russian natural gas shows that energy security, foreign investment and ESG are inextricable, writes Bruno Alves on Infrastructure Investor. "If there’s a lesson ... as Europe gets sorely tested, it’s this: while doing the right thing may be costly, not doing it is costlier still."

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