Castanea Partners was founded and capitalized in 2001 by Brian Knez and Robert Smith, former co-CEOs of diversified publisher Harcourt General and of high-end retailer The Neiman Marcus Group (NYSE:NMGA). Between 1991 and 2001, Brian and Robert held senior executive positions at both companies and served as co-Vice Chairman of The Neiman Marcus Group until its sale in 2005.

Following the successful sale of Harcourt General in 2001, Brian and Robert established Castanea Partners along with Paul Gibbons. Paul served as Treasurer of both Harcourt General and The Neiman Marcus Group. Peter Hoenigsberg joined the founding team as an operational partner and currently serves as CEO of Decision Resources, a former Castanea portfolio company. Steven Berg joined the firm as a partner in 2002, having previously been an investment professional at Bain Capital.

We recently closed our third fund, Castanea Partners Fund III, with $575 million of institutional capital, including a significant investment by Castanea’s general partners. Castanea’s prior investment vehicle was a $200 million fund raised in 2004. To date, we have built a portfolio that reflects our industry experience and strategy of adding value in partnership with management.

Since its founding, Castanea has assembled a team of private equity professionals with a balanced set of skills and backgrounds to realize superior results for investors and portfolio companies. Troy Stanfield, Suzanne Obenshain, and Juan Marcos Hill joined Castanea with experience from Berkshire Partners, Silverlake Partners, and Bain & Company, respectively. Also added to the team were Colleen Love, Chief Financial Officer, and Marion Schouten Director, Market Development & Investor Relations. The current team also includes Associates John Bahr, Howe Leng, Rajesh Senapati and Leah Tucker.