New Director Named for Financo West
New York–based investment bank Financo Inc. named Philippe Faraut as managing director and head of the company’s West Coast operations.
He will also serve on Financo’s operating committee.
Faraut replaces Steve Reiner, who left the company earlier this summer.
Formerly with the Sage Group, Faraut’s experience includes having advised a diverse mix of companies on divestitures and acquisitions, including Kraft, Schneider Electric and Jimmy Choo Ltd. At Sage Group, he served as a director and was responsible for transactions in the apparel, retail and consumer industries. Previously, he was director of global investment banking at HSBC Securities USA Inc., where he led the bank’s consumer retail team. His reacute;sumeacute; also includes a six-year stint at Merrill Lynch & Co., where he served as vice president of global industries and retail groups.
Faraut holds a master of business administration degree from the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles and a hospitality-management degree from the Centre International De Glion in Montreaux, Switzerland. He lives in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
“We have known Philippe for several years, and he worked with [Financo President] Bill Susman in the past,” said Gilbert W. Harrison, Financo’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Philippe brings a first-class addition to Financo and already knows many of the leaders in California retail, apparel, footwear, and other merchandising and consumer-goods companies. He has also worked with many of the California private equity firms. As a result, he brings the expertise and knowledge to continue to build our firm on the West Coast.”
“I have been in consumer/retail investment banking for 10 years, both in New York and the West Coast,” Faraut said. “The West Coast market has been as busy—if not more—than New York in the past couple of years. The younger, more-dynamic companies are based here. For a company like Financo, there is a lot to do here. Financo has been doing this for a long time, and they are ingrained in the East Coast market. It’s a natural extension to reach out and develop the [West Coast] market. There’s enough growing and healthy companies—many in premium denim and contemporary—to have a vibrant business out here.”—Alison A. Nieder
