Solomon Partners, a financial advisory firm and independent affiliate of Natixis, hired Jason Kliewer and Nick Troyer to co-head and develop a dedicated distribution group. The team joins Solomon Partners from Baird, where they led one of the most active M&A advisory teams in the sector. They will report directly to Solomon’s CEO Marc Cooper and will be based in a new Tampa, Florida office.
“This expansion is a significant step in Solomon Partners’ ongoing mission to diversify and grow, reflecting the firm’s commitment to enhancing its capabilities and client offerings,” Cooper said. “Jason and Nick have deep experience working with best-in-class distributors across a range of diverse end markets, and these sectors align perfectly with several of our established industry teams.”
“Leveraging the distribution group’s expertise in these unique business models and partnering across our strong and growing sector capabilities will enable the entire organization to better service our clients,” Cooper said. “Nick and Jason are highly respected and very well known by our existing private equity and family office clients — their reputations for integrity, client focus and teamwork led to their proven track record of productivity.”
“Solomon Partners’ success is built upon a high energy, client-first and team-oriented culture,” Kliewer said. “Combining the best aspects of a traditional investment banking partnership with the drive and innovation of an entrepreneurial startup, the exceptional growth at Solomon Partners is no accident.”
“Solomon Partners provides the ideal platform to expand our reach across the distribution sector, building upon our strong momentum and long-standing industry relationships,” Troyer said. “The firm’s focus on deep sector knowledge, as the foundation for superior client outcomes, fits squarely with our vision for the distribution group. The strength of Solomon Partners’ existing verticals together with its unique partnership structure and growth-focused culture creates exciting opportunities to collaborate.”
Kliewer joined Baird in 1998 and helped to build a globally-recognized distribution team. Over the course of 26 years, he advised many of the most successful leadership teams, financial sponsors, public and private companies in the distribution sector. He earned an MBA from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar, and a BS degree in finance from the University of Florida.
Troyer joined Baird in 2011 and has focused exclusively on the distribution sector. He has a wide range of experience working with publicly-traded, financial sponsor-backed, and family-owned companies across a range of distribution verticals. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, an MS in finance from The University of Tampa and a BS in finance from the University of Florida.
