Blair Effron
Encyclopedia
Blair W. Effron is an American financier. He was previously a vice chair of UBS Investment Bank. Effron left UBS in 2006 to co-found Centerview Partners
, a boutique investment banking firm based in New York City
.
Effron is also active in Democratic Party
politics and was a prominent supporter of John Kerry
's 2004 presidential campaign
.
and an MBA from Columbia Business School
.
in 1984 and an MBA from Columbia Business School
in 1986. He began his career at Dillon, Read & Co.
and would remain with the firm and its successors (Warburg Dillon Read
, UBS Warburg and UBS Investment Bank) over the next 20 years. Effron received a brief mention as an associate at Dillon Read in the Barbarians at the Gate involved in the buyout of RJR Nabisco
by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Effron began his career in investment banking in the early 1980s and built up a reputation as one of the leading bankers in the consumer product
s industry. At UBS, Effron was Group Vice Chairman of UBS AG and a member of the Board of UBS Investment Bank, where he also sat on several management committees. Effron's major coup came in 2005 when he advised Gillette on its $57 billion sale to Procter & Gamble
, which was the largest mergers and acquisitions
transaction of 2005. Among Effron's other major deals are:
In 2006, Effron announced he was leaving UBS to form a new boutique investment banking firm. Effron had been one a number of successful investment bankers, alongside Ken Moelis
and John P. Costas
, responsible for building UBS's investment banking franchise in the U.S. Effron's departure would be followed by the departure of investment-banking co-head Jeffrey McDermott, financial-services banker Michael Martin as well as Ken Moelis by mid-2007.
In July 2006, Effron co-founded Centerview Partners
along with Stephen Crawford, a former co-president of Morgan Stanley
as well as Robert Pruzan, formerly CEO of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein North America.
, Northside Child Development Center, Greater NY and New Visions for Public Schools. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
and the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution
.
Centerview Partners
Centerview Partners is an independent investment banking and private equity investment firm. Centerview operates primarily as an investment banking advisory firm. The firm offers mergers and acquisitions advisory, takeover defense, capital allocation and divestitures services. The firm also...
, a boutique investment banking firm based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Effron is also active in Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politics and was a prominent supporter of John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
's 2004 presidential campaign
John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
The Presidential Campaign of John Kerry, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and the nominee of the Democratic Party challenged Republican incumbent President George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election on November 2, 2004. Ultimately, Kerry conceded defeat in the race in a telephone call to Bush...
.
Early life
Effron obtained a BA from Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and an MBA from Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...
.
Career
Effron grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, son of James W. Effron, president of Effron Oil. Effron graduated with a BA from Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1984 and an MBA from Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School
Columbia Business School is the business school of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1916 to provide business training and professional preparation for undergraduate and graduate Columbia University students...
in 1986. He began his career at Dillon, Read & Co.
Dillon, Read & Co.
Dillon, Read & Co. was a prominent American investment bank from the 1920s into the 1960s.-Origins:Dillon Read traces its roots to 1832 with the founding of the Wall Street brokerage firm Carpenter & Vermilye. This firm was succeeded by Read & Company in which chief principal was William A. Read. ...
and would remain with the firm and its successors (Warburg Dillon Read
Warburg Dillon Read
Warburg Dillon Read was an investment bank created by the Swiss Bank Corporation , following its 1997 acquisition of S. G. Warburg & Co. which it merged with Dillon, Read & Co., a firm it had acquired in 1995. SBC itself merged with the Union Bank of Switzerland in 1998, creating UBS AG...
, UBS Warburg and UBS Investment Bank) over the next 20 years. Effron received a brief mention as an associate at Dillon Read in the Barbarians at the Gate involved in the buyout of RJR Nabisco
RJR Nabisco
RJR Nabisco, Inc., was an American conglomerate formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. RJR Nabisco was purchased in 1988 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co...
by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
KKR & Co. L.P. is an American-based global private equity firm, specializing in leveraged buyouts, based in New York. The firm sponsors and manages private equity investment funds. Since its inception, the firm has completed over $400 billion of private equity transactions and was a pioneer in...
Effron began his career in investment banking in the early 1980s and built up a reputation as one of the leading bankers in the consumer product
Consumer product
A consumer product is generally any tangible personal property for sale and that is used for personal, family, or household for non-business purposes. The determination whether a good is a consumer product requires a factual finding, on a case-by-case basis...
s industry. At UBS, Effron was Group Vice Chairman of UBS AG and a member of the Board of UBS Investment Bank, where he also sat on several management committees. Effron's major coup came in 2005 when he advised Gillette on its $57 billion sale to Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, which was the largest mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
transaction of 2005. Among Effron's other major deals are:
- InBevInBevInBev is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company existed independently for several years - since the merger between Interbrew and AmBev and until the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. InBev has operations in over 30 countries and sales in over 130 countries...
's $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-BuschAnheuser-BuschAnheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the... - UnileverUnileverUnilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products....
's $24 billion acquisition of Bestfoods - PepsiCoPepsiCoPepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
's $21 billion acquisition of The Pepsi Bottling GroupThe Pepsi Bottling GroupThe Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. was the world's largest bottler of Pepsi-Cola beverages. PBG sales of Pepsi-Cola beverages accounted for more than one-half of the Pepsi-Cola beverages sold in the United States and Canada and about 40 percent worldwide...
and PepsiAmericasPepsiAmericasPepsiAmericas, Inc. was the world's second-largest bottler of Pepsi-Cola products, and also contracted to produce beverages for Dr Pepper Snapple Group and smaller regional brands. PepsiAmericas had 19 bottling plants in the United States and had a presence in 11 countries in Central/Eastern... - NabiscoNabiscoNabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
's sale to KraftKraftKraft has more than one meaning:* Kraft Foods, the world's third largest food and beverage company by revenue* Kraft process, a paper pulp production method* Kraft paper, paper produced by the Kraft process* Kraft , a video game character...
for $19 billion and RJ Reynolds Tobacco for $10 billion - DiageoDiageoDiageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
's $10 billion sale of Pillsbury to General MillsGeneral MillsGeneral Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green... - DiageoDiageoDiageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
's $8 billion purchase of SeagramSeagramThe Seagram Company Ltd. was a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that was the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures...
's wine and spirits business - News Corp's $6 billion acquisition of Dow Jones
- Keebler CompanyKeebler CompanyThe Keebler Company is the largest cookie and cracker manufacturer in the United States. Founded in 1853, it has produced numerous baked snacks. Keebler has marketed its brands such as Cheez-Its , Chips Deluxe, Club Crackers, E.L...
's $4 billion sale to Kellogg - Blackstone GroupBlackstone GroupThe Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
's $2 billion leveraged buyoutLeveraged buyoutA leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
of Pinnacle FoodsPinnacle FoodsPinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company... - Godiva Chocolate's sale to Campbell for $850 million
- ConAgra's $2.8 billion sale of Commodities Trading Group
- Vestar Capital PartnersVestar Capital PartnersVestar Capital Partners is an American private equity firm focusing on leveraged buyout transactions in the United States, Europe and Asia.The firm, which was founded in 1988 is headquartered in New York City with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, Denver, Colorado in the US as well as Paris, Milan,...
's $1.3 billion sale of Bird's Eye Foods to Pinnacle FoodsPinnacle FoodsPinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company...
In 2006, Effron announced he was leaving UBS to form a new boutique investment banking firm. Effron had been one a number of successful investment bankers, alongside Ken Moelis
Ken Moelis
Ken Moelis is an investment banker and founder of Moelis & Company, an independent investment banking firm.-Education:Ken Moelis holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.-Career:Moelis began his...
and John P. Costas
John P. Costas (business)
John P. Costas is an American businessman, banker and trader. He is the former Chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank where he oversaw the growth of the Swiss bank's investment banking franchise in the U.S.from 2000 to 2005...
, responsible for building UBS's investment banking franchise in the U.S. Effron's departure would be followed by the departure of investment-banking co-head Jeffrey McDermott, financial-services banker Michael Martin as well as Ken Moelis by mid-2007.
In July 2006, Effron co-founded Centerview Partners
Centerview Partners
Centerview Partners is an independent investment banking and private equity investment firm. Centerview operates primarily as an investment banking advisory firm. The firm offers mergers and acquisitions advisory, takeover defense, capital allocation and divestitures services. The firm also...
along with Stephen Crawford, a former co-president of Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
as well as Robert Pruzan, formerly CEO of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein North America.
Other affiliations
Effron is a member of the board of Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn MuseumBrooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, Northside Child Development Center, Greater NY and New Visions for Public Schools. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
and the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
.