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JMI-backed Employee Navigator acquires Spectrum-backed Ease; Houlihan Lokey hires ex-Jefferies senior tech exec

Morning Hubsters!

This is Chris, on for Wire Wednesday.

Quite a week already, right? Trying to catch up with everything after two days with the family for a brief spring break.

Here’s something … an exit: JMI Equity-backed Employee Navigator, an HR software platform, acquired Spectrum Equity-backed Ease, a broker-centric HR and benefits software platform.

Spectrum will continue to retain a stake in Ease.

Employee Navigator founder and CEO George Reese will lead the combined company, which will support more than 130,000 businesses, more than 4,000 insurance brokers and more than 13 million employees in the US.

New hire: Houlihan Lokey hired tech investing banker Alec Ellison as global head of fintech, who was also named chief innovation officer, corporate finance, a newly created role at the firm. Ellison will be based in New York leading a team of more than 30 finance professionals in New York, London and Los Angeles.

Ellison joins Houlihan from digital venture and growth investing platform OurCrowd, where he was US chairman. Before, he was vice chairman at Jefferies and a member of the executive committee. He began his investing career at Morgan Stanley in 1988.

That’s it for me! Have a great rest of your Wednesday. Hit me up with tips n’ gossip, feedback or book recommendations at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com or find me on LinkedIn.

Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ...

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