TORONTO, ONT, September 14, 2017 – Dawson Partners (“Dawson” or the “Firm”), a specialized investment manager focused on making preferred equity investments in private equity portfolios, is pleased to announce that Giorgio Riva has joined the Firm as Partner. 

Prior to joining Dawson, Mr. Riva spent 7 years at CPPIB, most recently as Principal within the Secondaries & Co-investment group. In this role, Mr. Riva had responsibility over CPPIB’s North American secondaries business, originating and executing on many of CPPIB’s largest secondaries transactions. During his time at CPPIB, he played a key role in building the secondaries program from 3 to 22 people across two offices and with deep experience in private equity transactions, including traditional limited partner secondaries, fund restructurings, team-spin outs and direct co-investments. Mr. Riva has been recognized by industry publications as a thought leader in the secondaries market. Prior to joining CPPIB, Mr. Riva worked in the investment banking group at Scotiabank in Toronto. During his time at Scotiabank, Mr. Riva focused on mergers & acquisitions and equity/debt underwriting for the bank’s largest relationships across insurance, banking and asset management. Mr. Riva holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master’s degree in economics from McGill University.

“We are very pleased to be welcoming Giorgio to Dawson.  His extensive experience in the secondary private equity market makes him a great addition to our team.  We believe we will benefit from his strong base of relationships, execution experience and perspectives in the market”, said Yann Robard, Managing Partner at Dawson. “Firm culture is very important to us, and having worked closely with Giorgio during our time at CPPIB I know that he will fit right in.”

“We are excited to have Giorgio join our expanding team of 11 professionals. Giorgio has been a key player in the secondary private equity market for over many years and comes to us from a very well-respected organization.” said Michael Gubbels, Partner at Dawson.

“I am delighted to be joining the team at Dawson. I was attracted to the firm’s innovative approach to this new market and was impressed with the early successes they have experienced to date”, said Giorgio Riva.  “Dawson’s straightforward structure and “user-friendly” approach with counterparties should allow Dawson to position it well as a leading provider of preferred equity to the private equity portfolios.”

About Dawson Partners (“Dawson”)

Dawson is a private equity firm focused on making preferred equity investments in private equity portfolios. Dawson has identified what it believes is a significant and untapped market opportunity in the utilization of a preferred equity structure to generate liquidity on private equity portfolios and/or finance the acquisition of private equity portfolios.  Dawson was formed in 2015 and seeks to provide customized and flexible liquidity solutions for private equity investors looking for alternatives to outright sales of assets or traditional debt financings.