AE Industrial Partners hires new finance chief
By
Ross Wilkers
Serial government market acquirer AE Industrial Partners brings in a new chief financial officer to help the private equity firm further chart its future direction.
One of the government market’s most active private equity investors has hired a new chief financial officer to help the firm further chart its future direction.
Melissa Klafter, a 25-year financial services veteran, joins AE Industrial Partners as CFO and her appointment is effective immediately. She will also be a partner at the firm, AEI said Tuesday.
She succeeds Wayne Garrett, a 15-year veteran of AEI who remains as a partner at the firm.
“The addition of new products to leverage our large, specialized investment team demands that we continually look for talented professionals to achieve sustainable growth,” David Rowe, an AEI managing partner, said in a release.
Some of the government market companies in AEI’s portfolio currently include Belcan, Gryphon Technologies and UAV Factory.
Boca Raton, Florida-headquartered AEI has also been known for a pair of high-profile exits in the works as BigBear.ai and Redwire prepare to become publicly-traded businesses via mergers with special purpose acquisition companies. AEI will retain a minority stake in both BigBear.ai and Redwire.
Klafter joins AE from Sun Capital, where she most recently was managing director and CFO. She also is a former vice president of the respective alternative investment groups at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.