GLOBAL REGIONS : North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific
BUSINESS SECTOR : Global Investment & Supply Chain, Shipping & Marine, Manufacturing, Global Industrial & Logistics business, Transportation and Trading sector.
EXPERTISE : Global Corporate & Business Development, International Investment & Strategy advisory services including Global Investment & Supply Chain, Shipping & Marine, Manufacturing, Global Industrial & Logistics business, Transportation and Trading sector, and financial & economy advisory services.
Corporate Experience
Mr. E. Stephen Benson founded with experienced partners and executives Cyrene Holdings in 2012 to opportunistically create or acquire major global private non fund direct equity businesses. The Cyrene focus has been international opportunities that include strong experienced management, interesting industries offering consolidation with good growth and cash flows from contracted revenues. Mr. Benson is a co-founder and general partner of Cyrene Holdings, Cyrene Marine, Cyrene Global Education.
Cyrene Holdings has focused on for profit education to bring international MENA, Emirates students to US universities, Brazilian water business to supply South Africa. Cyrene Marine is a specialized barrier to entry scaled maritime chemicals, LNG, Bio-fuels and clean petroleum products transport supply chain, global logistics businesses. Cyrene Holdings created Cyrene Marine, LLC in 2012 for a purchase charter back of the $2 billion BP PLC, Aframax oil tanker fleet.
Prior to Cyrene, Mr. Benson was partner of Perlmutter Real Estate Partners – a commercial real estate investor with the Verizon $60 billion pension fund – “VIMCO” – as the equity general partner. He was chairman of Seegal Benson Leucadia Partners, a public operating, manufacturing and investment company that owns Jefferies Group, Inc. Founded the Stephens Financial Group, an M&A advisory and private equity partnership with the Stephens Family Office of Little Rock, Arkansas. Head of Corporate Finance and Vice Chairman at Wasserstein Perella & Co.
Mr. Benson was Head of the Investment Bank and Equity Capital Markets & Syndicate Departments at Salomon Brothers and was the advisor to Northrop Grumman for the $20 billion hostile acquisition of TRW, Inc aerospace technology manufacturer and follow-on related $6 billion divestiture of TRW Automotive to Blackstone. Executed transactions for Blackstone Group, Clayton Dubilier, Boeing, Delphi, DuPont, GE.
Subsequent to being head of the Salomon Brothers investment bank, he became a general partner at Gibbons Green LLP, now Leonard Green & Partners. Among the portfolio companies Mr Benson was an investor and managed included Lear Corp, United Technologies Automotive, Sealy Bedding, Robert Half, # 1 corporate hiring business, Jack ‘n Box, Chi Chi’s Mexican fast food restaurants, Budget Rent a Car, Bath Iron Works, now General Dynamics shipyard manufacturer of US Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers, Viking kitchen appliances, Energy Transfer “ETE” natural gas transport, among other portfolio business.
Mr. Benson in 1994 sponsored and funded a scholarship program for African-American students at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University.