Vestar Capital Partners Announces Promotions

							Vestar Capital Partners Announces Promotions
January 21, 2010 09:03 AM Eastern Time  

NEW YORK--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Vestar Capital Partners, a leading international private equity firm, today announc
promotions. Evan Marks, Brendan J. Spillane and Oussama I. Takla have been promoted to Managing Director; Garrick D. Bernst
promoted to Principal; Fabrizio Gualdi, Gregor Hengst and John B. Stephens have been promoted to Vice President; and Patrick
David N. Kestnbaum have been promoted to Senior Associate.

“We are delighted to have such talented individuals on our team and we are pleased to recognize their contributions to the firm,” sai
O’Connell, CEO of Vestar. “These individuals have played a significant role in Vestar’s success during the recent challenging econo

Mr. Marks, based in Vestar’s New York City office, joined the firm in 2007. He is currently a member of Vestar’s Resources Gro
Mr. Marks was with WebMD and prior to that he was Vice President of Marketing for Medco. Following Medco’s sale to Merck
became a member of Merck's Worldwide Business Strategy Team. Mr. Marks is a graduate of New York University and holds a

Mr. Spillane, based in New York City, joined Vestar in 2006 as Executive Vice President and Corporate Chief Financial Officer.
from SV Investment Partners, the U.S. affiliate of Schroder Ventures, where he served as CFO. Previously, Mr. Spillane served as
Schafer Capital Management, a registered investment adviser. He started his career in the audit practice at Price Waterhouse. Mr.
BS from Manhattan College and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mr. Takla joined Vestar Europe’s Paris office in 2001. Previously, he was in the Corporate Finance and Merchant Banking division
Sachs and prior to that, he worked at Coopers & Lybrand as a management consultant. Mr. Takla holds an engineering degree fro
Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. 

Mr. Bernstein, based in New York City, came to Vestar in 2004. He is currently a member of Vestar’s Media and Healthcare Gro
Mr. Bernstein was with Dolphin Equity Partners and prior to that, he was a member of the Global Communications Group at Merrill
Bernstein holds a BA, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Gualdi joined Vestar Europe's Milan office in 2005 after four years in the Mergers & Acquisitions Department of Morgan Stanl
Bank in London and Milan. He earned his Master's Degree in Business Administration and Economics, summa cum laude, from It
University.

Dr. Hengst joined Vestar Europe's Munich office as a Senior Associate in 2008. Previously, he was with McKinsey & Company in
before that was with the international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and with Commerzbank in Cologne. Dr. Hengst earn
degree in law, summa cum laude, from Cologne University.

Mr. Stephens, based in Vestar’s Denver office, joined Vestar in 2006 and is presently a member of the Consumer and Diversified I
Previously, he was a member of the Leveraged Finance Group at Wachovia Securities and prior to that he worked at L.E.K. Cons
Stephens holds a BA, magna cum laude, from Middlebury College, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic hon

Mr. Hofmann joined Vestar's Munich office as an Associate in 2008. Previously, he spent two years in the Investment Banking Divi
Sachs in London, and prior to that he worked in several divisions of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt. Mr. Hofmann holds a Master’s D
Accounting and Finance and a BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Mr. Kestnbaum, based in New York City, joined the firm in 2006 and is currently a member of Vestar's Diversified Industries and
Groups. Previously, Mr. Kestnbaum was with JPMorgan’s Financial Sponsor Group. Mr. Kestnbaum holds a BA in Political Scien
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall.

About Vestar Capital Partners

Vestar Capital Partners is a leading international private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investme
in assets under management. The firm targets companies in the U.S. and Europe with valuations of $250 million to $3 billion and op
industry sectors: consumer/services, diversified industries, healthcare, media/communication, and financial services. Vestar invests a
with incumbent management teams, family owners or corporations in a creative, flexible and entrepreneurial way to build long-term f
enterprise value. Since the firm’s founding in 1988, the Vestar funds have completed more than 65 investments in companies with a
than $30 billion. Vestar has operations in New York, Boston, Denver, Milan, Munich and Paris. For more information, please visit
www.vestarcapital.com.

Contacts
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations, Inc.
Kristin Celauro, +1-732-291-5456

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