IDB Bank announced the expansion of its Sponsor & Leverage Finance team. As part of this expansion, IDB aims to further its presence within the leverage finance space, a key area of growth over the next several years.

The recent expansion welcomes four industry professionals, who join the IDB New York Commercial Banking division with a proven track record for driving success, previously working as a team with Investors Bank, a division of Citizens Bank. The team will be led by James Dunleavy, who brings forward nearly 35 years of industry experience to IDB and its growing diverse commercial clientele.

James Dunleavy, Senior Vice President/Manager. A seasoned executive, Dunleavy joins the Bank following an eight-year tenure with Investors Bank, where he launched the Sponsor Finance group and grew the loan portfolio to in excess of $600 million in senior credit facilities across a variety of industries. Prior to his time with Investors Bank, he held senior leadership roles with several notable financial institutions including Merrill Lynch Capital, IBJ Whitehall Bank & Trust and National Westminster Bank USA.  

Tom Savage, Senior Vice President/Originator & Senior Relationship Manager. Savage joins IDB following a robust more-than 30-year career within the financial services sector, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of the Sponsor Finance group with Investors Bank. In this role, he led the origination, underwriting and management of cash flow loans for companies located throughout the U.S. principally owned by private equity sponsors with funds sized between $250 million and $1 billion, independent sponsors and family offices. Prior to his role with Investors Bank, Savage held several senior leadership roles with financial institutions including Capital One and TD Bank. He additionally spent more than a decade working with Spire Capital, a private equity firm focusing on investments in tech-enabled business services, as well as the media, education and communication sectors.

Michael McIntyre, First Vice President/Senior Relationship Manager & Portfolio Manager. McIntyre is a seasoned corporate finance executive with more than 30 years of extensive and diverse experience as a cash flow and asset-based lender. He joins IDB following an eight-year tenure with Investors Bank, where he was a key member of the Sponsor Finance group, responsible for structuring, underwriting, negotiating and closing senior cash flow loans for portfolio companies located nationwide. Prior to his time with Investors Bank, McIntyre held notable roles with several financial organizations, including Amalgamated Bank, GE Capital and CIT.

Paul Muzzio, Vice President/Relationship Manager & Portfolio Manager. Muzzio joins IDB following more than eight years with Investors Bank, where he most recently served as Assistant Vice President of the Sponsor Finance group. In this role, he spearheaded key underwriting responsibilities across diverse financing opportunities in order to drive meaningful deal closings. Muzzio additionally graduated from the bank's Credit Training Program and held roles with general C&I Lending teams prior to joining the Sponsor Finance Group.
"We are thrilled to welcome Jim, Tom, Michael and Paul to our team," said IDB Bank President & CEO Ziv Biron. "This is a strategic expansion of our Syndications group as we continue growing our business across the country and delivering a variety of financing capabilities and services that will meet the growing needs of our clients well into the future."

The recently formed Sponsor & Leverage Finance team additionally includes David Gilio, Senior Vice President of Sponsor Finance, who joined the Bank in February 2021.

David Gilio, Senior Vice President. Gilio joined IDB two years ago with more than three decades of leverage finance and leadership experience. Prior to joining the Bank, he served as the Managing Director and Sector Head of Leveraged Finance within BNP Paribas, where he led his team in the origination, negotiation and execution of leverage financing opportunities in numerous sectors for PE firms, closing more than $6.75B in transactions as both a lead and joint arranger. He additionally held notable positions within the Leverage and Sponsor Finance groups with Royal Bank of Scotland and TD Securities

"The recent strategic expansion of Sponsor & Leverage Finance team is a tremendous win for our organization," said Lissa Baum, Head of IDB New York Commercial Banking. "In harnessing the expertise of these five high-profile and well-regarded leverage finance specialists, we plan to further advance our profile within this exciting and growing sector of commercial banking."

The IDB Sponsor & Leverage Finance team will report to Christopher Dowd, Head of Syndications, Sponsor & Leverage Finance.