Angelakis launches his $4b Comcast-financed fund

As Comcast Corp.'s CFO, Michael Angelakis negotiated the deal that brought entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal to the Philadelphia cable giant in 2011 for $30 billion.

He soon followed that with a hugely successful bet expanding Universal's theme parks, further diversifying Comcast away from cable.

Now Angelakis is going out on his own, with $4 billion in Comcast money, creating an independent investment fund, incorporated as "Atairos," that could produce returns or diversified properties for Comcast.

Angelakis recently opened the fund's offices in Bryn Mawr and New York's Rockefeller Center with skeletal staffs.

The Greek word atairos means "partnership," Angelakis says on the website, and "serves as our constant reminder of the importance of relationships in achieving our shared success."

Angelakis declined to be interviewed. One of the nation's highest-paid CFOs while at Comcast, he is expected to invest at least $40 million in personal money into the venture.

Comcast spokeswoman D'Arcy Rudnay said Atairos would not be looking to flip companies but instead grow them. She compared its model to Warren Buffett's conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway.

Comcast will pay $40 million a year in management fees to Atairos, which includes Angelakis' $8 million a year in compensation, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Comcast.

Comcast also retains the right to acquire Atairos' divestitures.

Among Angelakis' hires so far has been Alexander Evans, the former executive vice president for global corporate development and strategy at Comcast.

Comcast hired Evans in 2013 from Providence Equity Partners, the multibillion-dollar investment fund where Angelakis worked before his hiring at the Philadelphia cable and Internet giant.

Evans is listed as a partner on the Atairos website.

David L. Caplan, a former partner at the Davis Polk law firm in New York, has joined Atairos as general counsel and partner.

Caplan advised Comcast on its successful acquisition of NBCUniversal and its failed $45.2 billion bid for Time Warner Cable Inc., the nation's second-largest cable firm. Comcast abandoned the deal last April after the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission objected to it as anticompetitive.

Clare McGrory, former chief financial officer at Sunoco L.P., has been named Atairos' CFO and chief compliance officer.

Vijay Khanna, a former SAP vice president and founder of konciergeMD, is listed as a "principal" on the Atairos website. KonciergeMD, a digital platform, allowed patients to talk to their doctors. Accolade, based in Plymouth Meeting, acquired the company in 2014. Terms were not disclosed.

Comcast noted in the SEC documents that the term of its agreement with Atairos is 10 years and could be extended to 12 years. It describes Angelakis' venture as "a new, strategic company focused on investing in and operating growth-oriented companies, both domestically and internationally."

After Comcast recoups its investment into Atairos, the Atairos gains will be split 87.5 percent to Comcast and 12.5 percent to Angelakis and his management team.

bfernandez@phillynews.com

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