PE Firms Turning to Industry Vets for Board Seats

Traditionally, when a private equity firm bought into a company, it named at least one member of its management team – typically a former investment banker – to the company’s board.

But now, that seat is less likely to be filled by a finance-minded Wharton M.B.A. and more likely by the former boss of a competitor or someone else with industry savvy. And that’s what companies want. “There’s not been a deal I’ve done in the past two years where the chief executive of a company hasn’t said to me, ‘I want more than money. I want someone who can supplement my board and my management team,’” said Andrew Apfelberg, a partner in the mergers and acquisitions practice at Century City law firm Greenberg Glusker.