NEW YORK – J.F. Lehman & Company, a leading middle-market private equity firm focused on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, is pleased to announce the addition of Lawrence J. Phillips, Managing Director of Portfolio Operations, and Michael P. Leber, VP Finance & Controller. In addition, the firm recently welcomed Tyler W. Creamer, Alfred E. Johansen and Luke T. Zabinski as Associates.
“The continued expansion of our team follows the growth of our portfolio and an increased level of transaction activity,” said Louis N. Mintz, Partner. “We continue to find interesting opportunities and an attractive environment for our investment strategy.”
Mr. Phillips will be involved in all aspects of the firm’s private equity investment program with an emphasis on the operational evaluation and oversight of portfolio companies from acquisition through exit. He joins J.F. Lehman after serving in a similar capacity at both Court Square Capital Partners and Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC (“COAC”), the in-house operations affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P.
In these roles, Mr. Phillips focused on driving operational and financial transformation at a variety of portfolio companies and served as Senior Vice President of Operations at DynCorp International and Senior Vice President of Corporate Transformation at Formica Corporation. Mr. Phillips began his career in manufacturing and financial management at General Electric and also served as Vice President of Marketing, Finance and Corporate Operations at BigMachines, Inc. A native of New Jersey, Mr. Phillips earned dual honors degrees (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Political Science) from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Leber joins J.F. Lehman & Company after four years at Perpetual Capital, a private investment company focused on middle market buyouts, where he served as VP Finance & Chief Accounting Officer. Previously, Mr. Leber held accounting and finance positions at Allbritton Communications Company, Warner Music Group and a variety of other private and publicly traded organizations. A Virginia native, Mr. Leber earned a B.S. degree in Accounting with distinction from Pennsylvania State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
All of the firm’s new Associates recently completed investment banking analyst programs. Mr. Creamer, a graduate of Harvard University, worked in the Leveraged Finance Group at Deutsche Bank. Mr. Johansen worked in the Industrials Group at UBS after graduating from Boston College. Mr. Zabinski, a graduate of Cornell University, worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring and Special Situations Group at Oppenheimer & Co.