Kian Capital Partners, a middle-market focused private investment firm, announced the addition of three new team members to support the firm’s continued growth. Thomas Bullock and Doyle Silvia join the firm as Associates, and Mikaela Palma as Senior Accountant.
“Our role is to empower management teams by providing the resources necessary to accelerate growth and scale their businesses,” said Kevin McCarthy, Co-Founder and Partner at Kian Capital. “Thomas, Doyle and Mikaela add significant muscle to our team as we continue to support our portfolio companies by investing in value creation capabilities. 2021 was a strong year for Kian, and 2022 is looking to be a similar story—these new additions to our team will be essential in helping Kian continue to deliver exceptional results as we grow.”
Thomas Bullock and Doyle Silvia will join the investment team and will be primarily responsible for evaluating, underwriting and monitoring new and existing investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Kian Capital, Thomas was with Driven Brands, an automotive-aftermarket services franchisor, where he was involved in the franchise development of the collision and oil change brands. Before Driven Brands, he was an Analyst at Jefferies, in the Consumer & Retail Group, a group dedicated to executing mergers and acquisitions, debt financings, equity issuances and other financial advisory services. Thomas holds a B.S. in Finance from Wake Forest University.
“Kian has a great reputation with founders, which was important to me as I considered joining the team,” said Thomas. “I look forward to adding value by leveraging my prior experiences working with small businesses and franchise owners, as well as executing multiple transaction structures across the Consumer & Retail sector.”
Doyle joins Kian from VRA Partners, a boutique investment bank dedicated to providing merger and acquisition, capital raising and strategic advisory services to middle-market companies and private equity firms. He holds a B.A. in Global Politics from Washington & Lee University.
On joining the team, Doyle commented, “The momentum Kian has gained over the past few years is nothing less than impressive. Kian’s collaborative approach to partnership with their portfolio companies is unique within the lower middle market and has continued to drive outstanding results over the life of the firm. My prior experience advising family/founder-owned businesses—and understanding of the challenges such businesses face—is a perfect fit with the team and the firm’s investment strategy.”
Mikaela Palma will focus on the firm’s accounting, financial reporting, external audits and examinations, and tax reporting. Prior to joining Kian, Mikaela was a Senior Internal Auditor at Truist, where she focused on the bank’s capital and liquidity risk profile. Before Truist, she was a Senior Assurance Associate at Dixon Hughes Goodman, where she specialized in financial statement audits for investment funds and SBICs. During this time Mikaela was a part of the DHG team that supported Kian. Mikaela earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting and an M.S. in Accountancy from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is a licensed CPA in North Carolina.
“I am excited to bring my strong accounting acumen and understanding of the nuances of financial reporting and SBA requirements to the team,” said Mikaela. “Kian is committed to building trusting relationships and working with its limited partner investors and portfolio companies to achieve collective success with an emphasis on transparency and partnership. I am proud to be a part of a hard-working team that has an unwavering commitment to trustworthiness and collaborative partnership in the investment journey.”