B. Riley Financial, a business advisory and financial services company, launched B. Riley Financial Sponsors Group. Dan Kraft and Tim Bottrell will lead the group as co-directors of financial sponsors coverage.

The team will focus on developing and maintaining relationships with alternative capital managers, including private equity firms, family offices, sovereign wealth, credit funds and hedge funds.

“The launch of our Financial Sponsors Group is a key milestone for B. Riley, enabling us to dedicate the right resources to drive value for middle market sponsors and alternative capital managers. With each assignment, we will deliver the broad service offering and benefits of B. Riley Financial,” Tom Kelleher, co-CEO of B. Riley Financial, said. “We’re thrilled to have Dan and Tim leading the effort. Their deep relationships and expertise will help ensure we’re delivering superior results to our clients.”

In their new roles, Kraft and Bottrell will focus on developing relationships with sponsors, collaborating with B. Riley senior management and coordinating with personnel who routinely interact with sponsors.

“I’m excited to be a part of a firm with so much to offer,” Kraft said. “I look forward to bringing B. Riley’s robust range of capabilities to the sponsor community.”

“I’m thrilled to support the company’s rapid growth with a creative and differentiated approach that will help the firm continue to expand and strengthen its sponsor relationships,” Bottrell said.

Kraft joined the firm with more than seven years of investment banking experience. He most recently served as a vice president in the financial sponsors group at J.P. Morgan. During his tenure, Kraft assisted with dozens of M&A advisory assignments as well as debt and equity capital fundraises for both public and private companies. Earlier in his career, he was at Bank of America serving large-cap investment-grade clients.

Bottrell joined from Goldman Sachs’ global markets division, where he led the multi-asset originations effort. During his tenure, he originated dozens of public and private investment, lending, and co-investment opportunities across investment banking, merchant banking, private wealth management and global markets. Bottrell began his career at Bloomberg, where he was an original member of the Bloomberg Mandates platform.