Magic Johnson's Infrastructure Partnership Hires Goldman Banker

(Bloomberg) -- An infrastructure firm backed by former basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Andrew Kim, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Kim, who worked on energy infrastructure investments within Goldman Sachs’s merchant banking division, will join JLC Infrastructure as a managing director in June, said the people, who asked not to be named because the appointment isn’t public yet. Kim and representatives for Goldman Sachs and JLC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

JLC, which stands for Johnson Loop Capital, is a venture of the former Los Angeles Laker’s Magic Johnson Enterprises and Chicago-based Loop Capital. The firm has been stepping up its hiring, and earlier this year named Rob Keough, previously of Basalt Infrastructure Partners LLP, as managing partner.

In a letter to Square Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey announcing his resignation from Square’s board in May 2016, Johnson cited his infrastructure fund, which was started “to take advantage of the development opportunities nationally.”

So far, JLC, a certified minority- and women-owned business enterprise, has invested in airport projects such as the Delta terminal at LaGuardia Airport and Denver International Airport’s Jeppesen Terminal. It was also part of a consortium that lost a bid to develop, build and operate a new train at Los Angeles International Airport.

JLC had raised $303 million for its first fund as of last summer, and is accepting minimum investments of $10 million, according to an SEC filing. The firm is targeting at least $1 billion, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter.

Before joining Goldman in 2013, Kim spent 13 years at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he last held the position of executive director within the bank’s infrastructure investing unit, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Infrastructure funds are in favor with investors despite stalled efforts in Washington to accelerate private investment in the sector. On the other end of the spectrum from JLC, which is a first-time fund, Global Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. are each set to raise $20 billion or more, record amounts, for new funds, Bloomberg News has previously reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus

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