The Onex Corporation logo is displayed at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto on Thursday, May 10, 2012.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
January is promotion time at Onex Corp., and this year Canada's biggest buyout firm has named two new managing directors.
That's a significant increase in the senior team at Onex, where managing directors now number just eight dealmakers. There are also four senior managing directors. And of course, there is chief executive officer Gerald Schwartz, who founded the firm. That senior team of just more than a dozen oversees buyout funds with billions of dollars in capital.
Last year at this time, the firm named only one new managing director. This year, the firm promoted David Hirsch and Tawfiq Popatia.
Mr. Hirsch has spent a decade at the firm, and he worked on one of the biggest moneymakers in recent memory, Spirit AeroSystems. He now works out of London, seeking European transactions.
Onex said Mr. Popatia joined in 2007. He led Onex' investment in BBAM in the aircraft leasing sector, a business the firm has been eyeing for some time.
Onex is in the midst of raising a new $4.5-billion buyout fund, which will give the firm plenty of cash to pursue more buyouts.
The Toronto-based fund is better than halfway to finalizing the fundraising, according to reports.