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First Data execs out after deal

Buy means bye

David Milstead, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 25, 2007 at midnight

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Four top executives of First Data will depart now that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has closed its $28.7 billion deal to buy the Greenwood Village-based company.

First Data was Colorado's biggest public company until Monday, when shareholders accepted $34 a share in cash.

Former Compaq and MCI CEO Michael D. Capellas is the new chairman and CEO. Henry "Ric" Duques, who came out of retirement in 2005 to resume his old CEO role, is retiring.

Capellas' reorganization of the company will cost three other execs their jobs:

• Senior Executive Vice President David Bailis, the head of financial institution services, will leave, as his division is combined with First Data's commercial services segment. Edward Labry, the head of that segment, will lead the merged operation.

• Senior Executive Vice President Pamela Patsley, president of First Data International, will leave. First Data's international operations will be led by David Yates, the president of the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

• Executive Vice President David Treinen, the president of First Data Government Solutions, also will depart.

First Data also hired two:

• Tom Bell, a managing director at consulting firm Accenture, will be executive vice president and chief strategy officer.

• Grace Chen Trent, former senior vice president of communications for MCI, will be executive vice president for marketing and communications.

For most of the late summer, Wall Street watched with worry as the credit crunch threatened the debt-laden First Data deal. But as markets settled, and KKR made a few changes to the loan package, investors bought the debt last week.