PITTSBURGH —NEP has altered the makeup of its board of directors to reflect the company’s acquisition by New York-based private equity firm Crestview Partners.
Media and entertainment industry figures Ken Schanzer and Mark Patricof have joined the NEP board, in addition to Crestview Partners’ Jeff Marcus, Brian Cassidy and Katherine Chung. Debra Honkus will remain as chairman of the board, and NEP CEO Kevin Rabbitt will continue to serve as a director on the board.
Schanzer served as president and chief operating officer of NBC Sports from June 1998 until his September 2011 retirement. Schanzer played a key role in negotiating NBC becoming the network home of “Sunday Night Football.” He was also responsible for NBC’s exclusive network telecast rights for the University of Notre Dame’s home football games. Before joining NBC Sports, Schanzer served eight months as senior vice president of government relations, for the National Association of Broadcasters.
Patricof is the co-founder and managing partner of MESA Global, a merchant bank and strategic advisory firm specializing in media and entertainment. Since 2008, Patricof has advised on transactions including the acquisition of Miramax and financing for Relativity and Blue Man Group. Patricof also manages a seed fund called MESA+ and founded , a digital media incubator that partnered with media companies on content initiatives.
Joining Crestview, Marcus has been a media and communications entrepreneur at Crestview since 2004. He previously served as the president and CEO of radio broadcasting company AMFM. Marcus was also founder and CEO of Marcus Cable. Marcus also serves on the board of directors for Camping World/Good Sam Enterprises, Charter Communications, and Cumulus Media.
Cassidy joined Crestview Partners in 2004. Previously, he worked in private equity at Boston Ventures and was an investment-banking analyst at Alex. Brown & Sons.
Chung joined Crestview in 2009 from the Blackstone Group, where she was a principal in the private equity fund and worked in both New York and London. Prior to joining Blackstone, Chung was an associate at Capital Z Partners, a financial services-focused fund and an analyst in the Financial Institutions Group at Morgan Stanley.
CATEGORIES
