by Brian Solis
Qatalyst Partners: Adrian Dollard, Frank Quattrone and Jonathan Turner
According to an official press release, Frank Quattrone is back in business.
You may remember Quattrone from the Web 1.0 aka “The Bubble” days when he was the head technology banker for Credit Suisse. He made a fortune from driving almost every major IPO from Amazon to Netscape and is still considered one of the most connected people in tech.
Quattrone and some former colleagues are launching a new financial services venture called Qatalyst Group, a technology-focused merchant banking boutique, headquartered in San Francisco.
Qatalyst Partners, its investment banking business, will provide high-end merger & acquisition and corporate finance advice to technology companies globally. Qatalyst Capital Partners, its investing business, will make selective principal investments, typically alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms.
He brought some heavy hitters along to support him.
“The launch of Qatalyst is an important development for the technology industry,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google. “Frank and his team bring unparalleled industry knowledge, a unique 25-year market perspective and candid, insightful judgment that CEOs greatly value on important strategic initiatives. I look forward to working with him again and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst’s prospects for success.”
“There is an enormous opportunity for an independent, high caliber advisory firm focused on the global technology sector,” said Jim Breyer, a partner of venture capital firm Accel Partners. “Frank is truly world-class, both as a trusted advisor and a builder of excellent technology banking teams, and we look forward to working with him and his terrific team at Qatalyst.”
Gideon Yu, CFO of Facebook, formerly CFO of YouTube and SVP/Treasurer of Yahoo! added “Jonathan Turner has provided superb advice on some of the most important transactions of my career, combining tremendous sector insight with excellent deal savvy. I am excited about the opportunity to work with him and his partners at Qatalyst.”
Brian Solis, publisher of bub.blicio.us and blogger at PR 2.0 stated, “I’m so thrilled to see Frank back in action. While I know they’ll help their clients make the right decisions, I’m just wary that this might truly trigger a shift in the new Web economy where we start to focus on exits and IPOs again instead of building truly helpful applications and communities. But, I trust that Frank shares the new spirit of Silicon Valley and will contribute his vision and strategies to helping tech leapfrog the impending recession.”
Quattrone summed up by saying “My partners and I are passionate about the opportunity to build a world-class firm whose global network of relationships and high quality, responsive, independent, senior level advice can make a significantly positive long-term difference for our clients.”
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