Putnam is losing one of the heavyweights in its TH Lee Putnam Ventures partnership. Harvey Golub, the fund's chairman and the onetime chairman and CEO of American Express, is pulling out of the venture capital firm and forming a new private-equity firm. Golub is taking two other partners with him.

Golub's move was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Golub sits on the board of directors of Dow Jones, that paper's publisher.

Putnam Investments formed the venture capital firm with buyout specialist Thomas H. Lee Partners in when the venture market was hot in 1999. The fund has since raised $1.1 billion and made investments in at least 43 companies.

The two partners jumping with Golub are Renny Smith and Ramana Raghavendran. The trio plan to raise a $500 million fund to invest in business-services companies that use outsourced technologies and operations to leverage the affordability of labor and business costs in developing countries. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE