Declan Kelly, who recently stepped down as the United States Government's Economic Envoy to Northern Ireland, is re-entering the private sector with a new business in partnership with Douglas Band, the long time top advisor to President Bill Clinton, Irish Central has learned.



The company, called Teneo, will comprise a merchant bank, a private equity vehicle and an international consulting business, with offices initially in New York, London, Washington DC and Toronto.



It is also expected that the company will have a presence in Dublin in the near future.



The merchant bank will also include a private equity business designed to complement the extensive global consulting experience that exists inside the company. There are also plans to add a separate wealth management component to the business in due course.



The business will have three founding partners. Kelly and Band, who are known to be close friends who have known each other for almost two decades, will serve as CO-CEO's of the company.



Kelly's long time colleague and friend from FTI Consulting and Financial Dynamics, Paul Keary is the third founding partner and he will serve as COO of the business, reflecting many years of experience honed in helping to build both franchises in the US and around the world. Keary has been working with a number of governments on federal debt issues recently and is expected to be active in the Irish market in this area for the business going forward.



Several senior bankers are understood to have joined the merchant banking business, including Harry Van Dyke, who spent two decades with Morgan Stanley and Bank of America in a variety of senior management roles. He was previously head of Morgan Stanley's banking business in both Asia and Latin America. It's understood Van Dyke will be the CEO of the merchant banking division at Teneo.



Others associated with the firm include individuals who have worked for Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Nike, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President George W. Bush.



President Clinton will serve as an advisor to Teneo and serve on the company's Advisory Board. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, will also serve on the board in a unique and powerful combination of skills and experience that the group believes will leave them uniquely positioned in the international business community. It is believed that this will be the first time that Clinton and Blair will have worked together in a business capacity.



Industry insiders believe that the unique offering of merchant banking and consulting, together with the assembled team's vast experience, could lead Teneo to quickly become one of the world's leading advisory businesses.



The individuals behind Teneo have extensive experience in building globally impactful businesses quickly. Kelly, who served as an advisor to Hillary Clinton when she ran for President, led the buy-out of Financial Dynamics in 2003 and in 2006 sold it to FTI Consulting for $340m, still the largest price ever paid for a communications consulting company.



He later served as a senior executive at FTI which at the time had 3500 people in 28 locations around the world and a market capitalization of $3 billion. He was speculated to be in line for the CEO's job when he left in September of 2009 to serve as Secretary of State Clinton's economic envoy to Northern Ireland. He stepped down in May after serving the United States for nearly two years and is acknowledged as having helped create thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland during his time in public service. He organized the widely acclaimed US-Northern Ireland international business conference in Washington for Secretary Clinton in October of last year and created the Northern Ireland Mentorship Program for young people from Northern ireland to come and work in leading US businesses for one year. That program is still continuing under Kelly's leadership. He is recognized as one of the top communications experts in the world, having advised multiple CEO's and Chairmen of many of the world's leading companies over the past decade. Several successive Taoisigh in Ireland have acknowledged reaching out to him for advice over the years. He is an adjunct professor in business studies at his alma mater, National University of Ireland, Galway.



The Honorable Douglas J. Band currently serves as Counselor to President William J. Clinton. He began his career working in the White House in 1995 and has been with President Clinton for 16 years. He has served as President Clinton's chief advisor since 2002, counseling him, serving as the key architect of Clinton's post-Presidency, and overseeing the 1,400 employees and volunteers of the William J. Clinton Foundation. Band will remain in his role serving President Clinton as his most senior advisor and expanding the incredible work of the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative.



Prior to his role as Counselor to President Clinton, Band served in the White House Counsel's office for four years, becoming a Special Assistant to the President before he was made one of the youngest Deputy Assistants ever to serve a President.



He is a graduate of the University of Florida and while working at the White House for 6 years, he simultaneously obtained a masters degree from Georgetown University in Liberal Arts and a Law degree from Georgetown University Law School by attending both programs in the evenings.



As Counselor to President Clinton, Band has traveled to nearly 100 countries, over 2,000 cities. He created and built the Clinton Global Initiative that to date has raised over 63 billion dollars for nearly 2,000 philanthropic initiatives around the world which in total has impacted over 300 million people in 180 countries.



He continues to serve his country in assisting various domestic agencies and advising foreign governments on nation building, infrastructure creation and democratic governance structure. He serves as President Clinton's representative to the White House and other governments, organizations and businesses around the world. Additionally, Band has advised several heads of state on their transitions out of office. He orchestrated the release of two American journalists captured in North Korea in the summer of 2009 and has assisted in the rebuilding of nations after some of the worst natural disasters in the past decade including southeast Asia, Haiti, New Orleans and Gujarat, India.

He serves on the Coca-Cola Company International Advisory Board, on the Advisory Board of Avenue Capital and as a member of the faculty of New York University as an adjunct professor.



President Clinton said of Band: "I wouldn't be able to get through the day without Doug, and I couldn't have accomplished half of what I have in my post presidency without him."



Paul Keary served as a senior executive in Financial Dynamics and FTI before establishing a consulting business in New York. He has advised several of the largest companies in the world in industries like finance, energy and technology and has quietly earned a reputation as one of the most effective CEO counselors on issues of reputation and business strategy.



Teneo, a name derived from the Latin word for "to guide", is expected to commence business in the coming days with its headquarters located in midtown Manhattan.

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