Augusta Columbia hires TPG executive

Augusta Columbia Capital has hired former TPG Growth managing director David ibnAle to join the firm’s San Francisco office as a managing partner, the firm announced in a statement. ibnAle started with the firm today.

The firm could not be reached for comment at press time.

ibnAle had been a managing director at TPG since 2008, where he led the firm’s investment efforts in the technology sector, according to a statement. Previously, he was a partner at Francisco Partners and an associate at Summit Partners. ibnAle and Augusta Columbia co-founder, former Blackstone Group managing director Chip Schorr, collaborated on several co-investments in the technology sector during their time at Francisco Partners and Citigroup Venture Capital, respectively.

Augusta Columbia, which spun-out of The Blackstone Group earlier this year, is in the process of raising its debut fund targeting $750 million, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The fund will invest between $30 million and $150 million in middle market companies, with a focus on healthcare information technology, IT services, telecom equipment, internet infrastructure and financial technology. Several press reports have indicated that Blackstone will invest in the fund.

Schorr, whom Blackstone chief executive officer Stephen Schwarzman dubbed a “superstar” when he was hired by the firm in 2005, has made a name for himself as a major player in the technology sector, according to reports. In 2007, he led Blackstone’s $7.8 billion acquisition of Dallas-based transaction, credit and marketing services Alliance Data Systems. Schorr also led one of the first private equity investments in the semiconductor industry, Citigroup Venture Capital’s 1997 leveraged buyout of Fairchild Semiconductor for $550 million.