Providence Equity Partners, a private equity investment firm specialising in media, entertainment, communications and information companies, has appointed Steven W Alesio as a Senior Advisor. He will work with Providence on new investment opportunities and certain of the firm’s existing investments, including CDW, Study Group and Ascend Learning, where he currently serves on the Board of Directors.
Alesio most recently served as Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). He retired from D&B in July 2010 after nearly 10 years at the company. Prior to D&B, Alesio was with American Express for approximately nineteen years, working in a variety of senior leadership roles including President and General Manager of the Business Services Group and as a member of that Company’s Planning and Policy Committee.
“We are excited that Steve is joining our team and welcome him to the firm,” says Senior Managing Director Glenn Creamer. “He brings extensive financial and operational leadership experience and a strong network of relationships through his leadership roles at Dun & Bradstreet and American Express and his service on the Boards of numerous companies. Having witnessed his abilities firsthand at CDW, I know he will provide a strategic and insightful perspective and help create additional value at our portfolio companies as well as identify and pursue new investment opportunities in our target sectors. We look forward to his contributions to the firm.”
In addition to serving on the board of CDW, Alesio is a Director of Genworth Financial, a position he has held since July 2009. He has also served on the boards of Administaff Inc. Overture Services, Inc and Dun & Bradstreet. He is the founding sponsor and Co-Chair of the All Stars Project of New Jersey, a non-profit organisation which provides outside-of-school leadership development and performance-based education programming to thousands of inner-city youth in Newark and its surrounding communities. Alesio graduated with a BA from St. Francis College and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Providence is a world class firm with an exceptional track record of sourcing proprietary and relationship-based investment opportunities and creating value at its portfolio companies,” says Alesio. “I am thrilled to be working alongside Glenn and the talented team at Providence to contribute to the continued success of the firm.”
