Home ListingAugust 12, 2013

Private Equity Buys eSecLending as Veteran Takes the Helm

<em>Starble reappears as eSecLending gets a new owner.</em>

Reported by Featured Author

(August 12, 2013) — Independent securities lending agent eSecLending has been bought by private equity firm Parthenon Capital Partners, and appointed one of the most prominent industry characters as CEO, the firm announced today.

Craig Starble, formerly head of securities finance at State Street, will take the helm and invest some of his own capital in the business.

Starble has been a prominent figure in the industry for many years. He left State Street in 2009 and a year later was joined by seven former colleagues who attempted to build an independent securities lending business—Premier Global Securities Lending.

State Street immediately began court proceedings against those leaving the bank and against Starble for masterminding the scheme.

Premier Global Securities Lending never successfully launched, and many of the former State Street team ended up at rival custodians and securities lending businesses—including Peter Economou, Starble’s former deputy at State Street, who joined eSecLending as chief risk officer in July last year.

“The merits of a boutique, independent service provider have become increasingly evident in the current market environment where clients are seeking aligned interests and value-added, tailored solutions,” Starble said in a statement today.

Chris Jaynes, eSecLending’s current co-CEO and one of the founding members of the firm, will remain with the company as president, responsible for client management, strategy, and business development. Karen O’Connor had already announced plans to retire from the company upon a successful deal’s completion.

Zach Sadek, principal at Parthenon, said: “After years of research in the securities lending industry and more than a decade of effort in the financial exchange sector, we are attracted to eSecLending’s innovative business model as it is well placed to capitalize on the continued changes underway in the market.”

eSecLending was founded in 2000 and has become the largest independent securities lending agent. Its clients include asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies, and corporations, whose combined assets under management exceed $2 trillion. The company has also auctioned close to $3 trillion in assets since inception.