Goldfinch Partners, a private equity firm with approximately USD1 billion of equity invested in digital transformation transactions across industry verticals, has appointed Matthew F Herman as a Partner of the Firm and General Counsel in November 2021.
Goldfinch invests in sectors and spaces about which it has deep knowledge, including marketing, commerce, payments, fintech, supply chain and human capital. Recent investments include the announced USD910 million acquisition of Western Union Business Solutions, one of the world’s largest non-bank providers of business-to-business (B2B) cross-border payment and foreign exchange solutions, which is to be renamed Convera upon the deal’s closing.
Herman will be based in Goldfinch’s New York office, where he will oversee legal and regulatory matters for the firm, and will join the firm’s Investment Committee taking an active role in the investment process. Prior to joining Goldfinch, Herman was a partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the international law firm, for more than 15 years, including leading more than USD110 billion of M&A transactions for corporate and financial sponsor clients. Most recently, Mr. Herman was Freshfields’ US Managing Partner and Co-Head of Global M&A. Herman is a magna cum laude graduate of The Albany Law School, where he served as Executive Editor of the Law Review and is currently a member of The Board of Trustees.
“Matt is a superlative lawyer who brings to Goldfinch substantial relevant legal and business experience. Our team will be enhanced by his counsel, judgment and leadership,” says Sean Collins, Co-Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Goldfinch.
Bill McNichols, Goldfinch’s Co-Managing Partner and Co-Founder, adds: “I have known and worked with Matt as a trusted advisor for many years, including working closely together on the USD7.25 billion sale and go-forward licensing of Starbucks’ CPG and Foodservice business division to Nestle in 2018 and Goldfinch’s control recapitalization of Vesta in 2020. I am thrilled he is joining our organisation as we move into the next phase of growth.”
Commenting on his appointment, Herman adds: “I am excited to join Goldfinch at this pivotal time for both the firm and the global economy. The financial sponsor landscape continues to evolve rapidly and Goldfinch, with its key differentiators, will be at the forefront of that progression. While I am leaving an incredible position at Freshfields, with colleagues I have known and worked with for a generation, I could not be more excited about working with Bill, Sean and the entire Goldfinch team.”
