Reprinted from the European Venture Capital Journal
Christa Fanelli
May 7, 2001

The Carlyle Group’s all-star roster of professionals just got stronger. On May 1, the Washington, D.C.-based firm added two more impressive names to its already stellar roster by hiring Afsaneh Masheyekhi Beschloss, former treasurer and chief investment officer at the World Bank, and Arthur Levitt, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Carlyle also recently completed the buyout of Fairchild Imaging from aerospace giant BAE Systems North America.

Beschloss joins Carlyle as a managing director and the head of a newly forming group, Carlyle Asset Management Group, that will be involved in fund-of-funds activities. She is charged with developing the new group and the team of professionals that will be added. Carlyle had been planning to create an asset management group for some time.

At the World Bank, Beschloss was responsible for investing the bank's $65 billion in assets and directing its $30 billion funding strategy and operations. Additionally, she consulted with member countries, social security organizations and central banks on technical financial issues.

“She is a wonderful addition and she has a wealth of experience in managing the World Bank pension plan,” said a source at Carlyle. “We are very excited to have attracted someone of her caliber to this positions and have a lot of confidence that she'll do great things with that group.”

Levitt joins the firm as a senior adviser on matters relating to its private equity investments. Levitt was the longest-serving chairman of the SEC, holding the position from 1993 until March 2001. For three years prior to joining the SEC, Levitt was the chairman of the New York City Economic Development Corp., and he was chairman of the American Stock Exchange for over a decade prior to that.

“As chairman of the SEC, [Levitt] demonstrated his strong leadership skills and his deep concerns about the importance of investor protections," said Frank Carlucci, chairman at Carlyle, in a statement. "We are very fortunate to have Arthur affiliating with Carlyle, and we are confident that he will make a significant contribution to the firm.”

Carlyle already houses a number of prominent professionals including James Baker III, who served as chief of staff and secretary of treasury under President Ronald Reagan and secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush; William Long, who served as deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition management in the Reagan White House; Michael Orloff, who served as the general director of the World Health Organization in the early 80s; and Jerome Powell, who served as assistant secretary of the treasury for domestic finance and undersecretary of finance in the first Bush White House.

A New Image

In other Carlyle news, the firm purchased Fairchild Imaging, which manufactures charged coupled devices (CCD) and electronic imaging systems, in order for the company to operate independently and pursue non-aerospace markets.

There was no debt involved in the deal and the transaction value is undisclosed.

Fairchild Imaging has moved through the hands of some of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies through its history.

The company, which operated under the name BAE Systems Imaging Sensors prior to the transaction, spun off from BAE Systems North America, so that the parent can focus on its core aerospace businesses. “We’ve been part of large aerospace companies since the mid-’80s . . . and have gone through Loral to Lockheed Martin to British Aerospace and basically in that course of time, our business has really changed,” said Charles Arduini, the chief executive officer at Fairchild Imaging. “We‘re already a company that is largely in the commercial markets as opposed to aerospace and defense. So this spinout is really just a recognition of the focus of BAE's core business, and where the focus of our core business is.”

As part of the transaction, Carlyle will provide the resources necessary for product development and growing the company, said Arduini.