Appointments advance OMERS Private Equity’s direct investment model and long-term strategy to drive growth by supporting leading companies and management teams.
(April 6, 2022) – OMERS Private Equity today announced four senior appointments, enhancing the firm’s senior leadership team and bolstering its transactions and asset management functions to better support long-term growth and value creation across the portfolio. OMERS Private Equity manages investments globally on behalf of OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in the Province of Ontario, Canada. The appointments are as follows:
Eric Haley has been promoted to Senior Managing Director, Head of North America and is based in New York. Eric joined OMERS Private Equity in 2011 as a Managing Director, and then later a Senior Managing Director. He previously led the group’s efforts on new investments in the business services sector for North America. Eric currently is on the boards of Alexander Mann Solutions, Community Veterinary Partners, EPIQ (formerly DTI), Inmar, Paradigm Outcomes and TurnPoint.
Eric was previously at Tailwind Capital, Boston Ventures Management and Morgan Stanley. Eric received a BA from Bowdoin College, magna cum laude, in Mathematics/Economics and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Geoffrey Bird has been promoted to Managing Director, Head of Business Services. Based in New York, Geoff has been with OMERS Private Equity for 15 years and will lead the business services investment strategy, pursuing opportunities in tech-enabled outsourcing, data and information services, insurance services and other segments. Prior to this role, Geoff was focused on new investments in business services and healthcare services. Geoff has been actively involved with, or on the board of, several current and former investments, including Paradigm, Inmar, Epiq, CHG Healthcare, Nordco, Cari-all, and Marketwired.
Geoff has a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen’s University. He holds a CPA and is a CFA® charterholder.
Lane McDonald has joined the firm as Managing Director, Strategy & Operations, based in New York. In this role, she works with investment and management teams to assess new investments and define and execute value-creation priorities.
Prior to joining OMERS, Lane was the Global Head of Financials, Business Services and Education for the Industry Value Creation team at Partners Group and before that, helped build the Portfolio Strategy & Operations team for DLJ Merchant Banking Partners. She also has held various operations and strategy roles at Ropes & Gray, JetBlue Airways, American Express, Delta Air Lines and Bain & Company.
She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is the Vice Chair of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities’ Advisory Board and sits on the Chancellor's Philanthropic Council.
Tyler Craig has been promoted to Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets and Business Development at OMERS Private Equity and is based in New York. He joined in firm in September 2021 and focuses on OMERS Private Equity’s debt financing activities for both new and existing investments and manages the firm’s financing relationships. This newly created role speaks to the maturity and growth of the direct investing program at OPE.
Prior to OMERS Private Equity, Tyler had an almost 20-year Investment Banking career with BMO Capital Markets in New York, most recently in the Leveraged Finance team.
Tyler has a BSBA from the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.
“These senior appointments bolster an exceptional team of experienced private equity professionals singularly focused on driving growth and value over the long-term and delivering steady returns for our members,” said Michael Graham, Global Head of OMERS Private Equity. “Eric has proven himself over the past decade to be an outstanding investor and a strong leader, partner and mentor, bringing tremendous value and expertise to OMERS Private Equity, and we are delighted to elevate him to Head of Private Equity, North America. The appointments of Lane, Tyler and Geoff reflect the expansion of OMERS Private Equity’s platform and the continued growth of our portfolio. In their respective roles, Geoff will lead opportunities with industry-leading companies in the business services sector, Lane will help drive value creation through M&A across the portfolio and Tyler will structure and secure debt financing for our portfolio amidst an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving credit markets.”
About OMERS and OMERS Private Equity:
OMERS Private Equity makes investments in mid-sized companies, who are leaders in their respective sectors. We seek multiple avenues for growth – including organic growth and expansion, operational improvements, strategic capital injections and M&A. We partner with companies and teams looking to build companies that will last and create long term value for all their stakeholders.
Our specialized teams also focus on growth equity and venture capital allowing us to invest in companies at all stages of their development.
OMERS Private Equity manages investments globally in infrastructure on behalf of OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Investments are aimed at steady returns to help deliver sustainable, affordable and meaningful pensions to members.
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