Private investment firm welcomes new CFO Ari Herman, Senior Associate Grant Mueller, and Associate Alex Chang, and celebrates four promotions
NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Franchise Equity Partners (FEP), a private investment firm on a mission to create long-term partnerships with quality franchisees and franchisors, today announced the addition of three hires, Ari Herman, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Grant Mueller, Senior Associate, and Alex Chang, Associate, alongside four promotions within its investment team: Matt Crowe to Vice President, Katie Haverty to Vice President, John Esposito to Associate, and Riad Hallal to Associate.
“We’re excited to build our team further at FEP and are honored that Ari, Grant, and Alex have joined us as we expand our strategic investment presence in the franchise space. Additionally, we pride ourselves on growing from within and couldn’t be happier for Matt, Katie, Riad and John,” said Scott Romanoff, Co-Managing Partner of FEP. “We operate much like a family office and it’s that culture that has helped empower our teams as we work towards our initial target portfolio of $1B. I’m privileged to work alongside such talented people and look forward to their future contributions at FEP.”
Joining as FEP’s CFO, Ari Herman will lead the firm’s finance department. Ari boasts over 12 years of experience in private equity back-office operations, most recently holding the title of Private Equity Controller at Casdin Capital. Prior to this role, he was the Vice President of Finance and Operations at Level Equity and the Controller/Vice President of Finance at Solera Capital. Ari also spent six years at PwC as an Audit Manager in their alternative investments practice and is a licensed CPA and Notary Public in New York.
Grant Mueller has joined FEP as a Senior Associate, assisting with investment deals across sports, consumer, and business service verticals. Most recently, Grant was a private equity professional at Princeton Equity Group with a focus on investing in franchisors and multi-unit services businesses and overseeing investments in leading auto services, fitness, and consumer healthcare franchisors. Prior to this role, Grant worked at Greenhill & Company where he advised clients on M&A and financing transactions. Grant began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Aeris Partners.
FEP also welcomed Alex Chang to the team as an Associate. Prior to this role, Alex was an investment banking Senior Analyst at Evercore in the Consumer Retail Group and an analyst at UBS in the Consumer Products & Retail Group. He began his career in Beijing as an investment associate at a leading VCPE firm focused on investments in semi-conductor, integrated chip manufacturing, new materials, and healthcare technology sectors. In his role at FEP, Alex will provide support with investment deals across several verticals.
In addition to welcoming Ari, Grant, and Alex, FEP is dedicated to developing its internal team and began 2024 with four promotions across its investment division.
Matt Crowe has been promoted to Vice President and has played a pivotal role in steering FEP’s deals across various sectors since joining the firm in October 2021. Matt lends his expertise to FEP’s consumer, residential and commercial services, beverage, and automotive verticals. He’s contributed significantly to partnerships with Fresh Dining Concepts, Reliable Residential and others. As Vice President, Matt will continue to play a significant role in spearheading the firm’s franchising investments.
Katie Haverty joined FEP in June 2022 as a Senior Associate and has now been promoted to Vice President. Katie assists with the firm’s investments across key verticals including consumer services, restaurants, and heavy equipment. Her efforts have played an important role in establishing partnerships with Pacific Bells and National Fitness Partners among others.
Riad Hallal joined the FEP investment team in August 2021 and has been promoted to Associate. Riad helps build the firm’s investment approach across verticals including automotive, residential and commercial services, restaurants, and fitness.
John Esposito joined FEP in September 2021 and has been promoted to Associate. John assists with investment deals across a variety of sectors, including auto, beverage, and heavy equipment, among others.
“Our firm is on a rapid growth trajectory, and we’re excited to witness the continuous development of our investment team while also welcoming new and dynamic talent,” said David O’Donnell, Managing Director of FEP. “Together, we’ll build on FEP’s position as a private investment leader in the franchising space and pave the way for our long-term success.”
FEP is led by Co-Founders and Managing Partners Mike Esposito and Scott Romanoff, both retired partners at Goldman Sachs with nearly three decades each of experience. The private investment firm uses a minority, permanent and passive investment approach that enables operators to benefit from institutional capital without the complexities of traditional buyout partnerships. By allowing the owner to remain in control, FEP offers multi-generation families and entrepreneurs the opportunity to scale and add value to their businesses in a way that may not be possible on their own or without selling a controlling stake to a larger firm.
For more information about Franchise Equity Partners, please visit https://www.fep-us.com/.
About Franchise Equity Partners: Franchise Equity Partners is a private investment firm specializing in providing capital to franchise businesses and their owners. Its differentiated approach combines extensive corporate finance and operating experience with an initial target portfolio size of $1 billion to enable growth, ownership simplification, succession and estate planning, among other strategic business opportunities. To learn more about Franchise Equity Partners, please visit www.fep-us.com or follow the firm on LinkedIn.
Contact: Andrea Mazzola
(954) 893-9150
[email protected]
SOURCE Franchise Equity Partners
