MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, announced today that technology industry veteran John Chen will join the firm as a Senior Advisor. Most recently Mr. Chen served as CEO of Sybase, a company owned by SAP which under his tenure became a leader in mobile applications for business enterprises.

"We are truly excited to welcome John to Silver Lake," said Charles Giancarlo, Managing Director and Head of Value Creation. "John will play a critical role in evaluating potential new investments and driving operational improvements and other strategic initiatives across our portfolio companies. His deep roots in the technology sector, with more than three decades of operational experience, as well as expertise on a range of political and economic policy issues, especially in Asia, will be extremely valuable." Mr. Giancarlo added: "John personifies the global technology industry expertise and thought leadership at Silver Lake. He's a tremendous addition to our global team."

Mr. Chen had served as chairman and CEO of Sybase since 1998. His leadership was instrumental in establishing Sybase as a recognized industry leader in enterprise mobility infrastructure, augmenting the company's roots in database software. SAP acquired Sybase in 2010. Prior to Sybase, Mr. Chen was CEO and president of Siemens Pyramid, the $3 billion Open Enterprise Computing Division of Siemens Nixdorf. Mr. Chen also currently serves on the boards of The Walt Disney Company and Wells Fargo & Co.

"I am very pleased to join Silver Lake, which is a central player in the global technology industry and really the only firm that works at large scale with a true tech focus," said Mr. Chen. "I look forward to working with the Silver Lake team and their impressive global portfolio of companies."

Mr. Chen is a native of Hong Kong and active in the international policy arena and U.S.-Asia relations. He has received awards from distinguished organizations such as the U.S.-Asia Institute and the U.S.-China Policy Foundation and has testified before Congress on U.S.-China trade relations. In addition, Mr. Chen has been a longtime member of the Committee of 100, a non-partisan organization of Chinese American leaders that promotes U.S.-China ties, and served as chairman from 2009 to 2011. He also serves on the board of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations as well as the Brookings Institute. Previously, Mr. Chen served on President George W. Bush's Export Council.

Mr. Chen received an MSEE from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a B.S. from Brown University in electrical engineering. He is an honorary professor of Shanghai University and holds honorary doctorates from San Jose State University in California, City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

About Silver Lake

Silver Lake is the global leader in private investments in technology and technology-enabled industries. Silver Lake invests with the strategic and operational insights of an experienced industry participant. The firm has over 100 investment professionals and value creation specialists located in New York, Menlo Park, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo and manages approximately $14 billion. The Silver Lake portfolio includes or has included technology industry leaders such as Alibaba, Allyes, Ameritrade, Avago, Avaya, Business Objects, Flextronics, Gartner, Gerson Lehrman Group, Groupon, Instinet, Intelsat, Interactive Data Corporation, IPC Systems, MCI, Mercury Payment Systems, MultiPlan, the NASDAQ OMX Group, NetScout, NXP, Sabre, Seagate Technology, Serena Software, Skype, Spreadtrum, SunGard Data Systems, UGS, Vantage Data Centers and Zynga. For more information about Silver Lake and its entire portfolio, please visit www.silverlake.com.

Media Contacts:

Charlotte McCrum  
212 333 3810
Brunswick (New York)

SOURCE Silver Lake