Former US defence secretary William Cohen has formed a merchant bank with plans to invest $300 million in the defence, information and security sectors. TCG Financial Partners has been co-founded with Edward Carter, former head of investment banking at Bank of America.
Cohen runs a consulting firm, the Cohen Group, with former NATO supreme allied commander Joseph Ralston and former NATO secretary-general Lord George Robertson. TCG plans to raise $300 million from institutional investors to create a private equity fund, targeting companies in the $25-150 million range. TCG is counting on big US defence firms selling off non-core business units and buying smaller technology firms to meet the demands of military transformation. Another former US defence secretary, Frank Carlucci, is a key figure at private-equity firm Carlyle Group, which has invested widely in aerospace and defence, including in Italy's Avio, the UK's Qinetiq and Vought Aircraft Industries in the USA.
Source: Flight International
