Paine & Partners Appoints Harvard Business School Professor David Bell as Advisor

SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK and CHICAGO, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Paine & Partners, LLC ("Paine & Partners") today announced that David E. Bell, George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business at Harvard Business School, will be advising Paine & Partners on investments in the agribusiness and food industry.  Dr. Bell is a noted expert in agribusiness, particularly with regard to the demand side of the food chain and how global eating habits are changing, both with respect to what people eat and the channels through which they choose to buy food.  

"We are delighted to have David as an advisor to the Paine & Partners team," said Kevin Schwartz, a Partner of the firm.  "The complex investment opportunities in today's rapidly evolving agribusiness environment play to the strengths of Paine & Partners' differentiated approach.  David, a recognized expert with a deep understanding of the food supply chain, will help us identify investment opportunities and manage our existing investments in the agricultural, horticultural, food and protein industries.  We look forward to benefitting from David's extensive agribusiness knowledge."

"I have a great deal of respect for the professionals at Paine & Partners, whom I believe are among the most knowledgeable investment experts active in the agribusiness industry," said Dr. Bell. "The growing need for improved food productivity due to an expanding global population has generated new and exciting opportunities for investment in the agribusiness sector, and I look forward to working with the Paine & Partners team to capitalize on those opportunities."

During his thirty years on the faculty at Harvard Business School, Dr. Bell has taught courses on managerial economics, risk management, marketing and retailing at both MBA and executive levels. Currently he is teaching the MBA Agribusiness course. He chairs the once-per-year Agribusiness Seminar that attracts 200 food industry executives from around the world to discuss trends in the industry. For several years he chaired the school's ten-week executive education course Program for Management Development (PMD).  Following six years as head of the school's Marketing Department, he now serves as Senior Associate Dean with responsibilities including faculty recruiting.  

Dr. Bell also is an established author.  Along with his co-author, Walter J. Salmon, Dr. Bell has written two books on retailing, Strategic Retail Management and Introduction to Retailing.  With Arthur Schleifer Jr., Dr. Bell produced four books in a series called Managerial Decision Analysis for Course Technology Inc.: Decision Making Under Uncertainty, Data Analysis, Regression and Forecasting, Risk Management and Decision Making Under Certainty. He was awarded the 2001 Ramsey Medal by the Decision Analysis Society of INFORMS. Since 2005 he has been the Department Editor for Decision Analysis for Management Science.

Dr. Bell received a Bachelor of Arts from Merton College, Oxford and a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Since its inception, Paine & Partners has completed a number of successful investments in the food and agribusiness sector in leading companies such as Seminis, Advanta and Icicle Seafoods.  Paine & Partners also produces AGRInsights, a publication discussing the perspectives of industry leaders regarding key long-term forces shaping the future of agriculture and their implications for business (http://www.painepartners.com/articles.php).

About Paine & Partners, LLC

Paine & Partners LLC provides equity capital for management buyouts, going private transactions, and company expansion and growth programs. Paine & Partners engages exclusively in friendly transactions developed in cooperation with a company's management, board of directors, and shareholders. For further information see www.painepartners.com.

SOURCE Paine & Partners LLC