His name cleared and his four years of legal battles behind him, Frank P. Quattrone is back in business in Silicon Valley.

On Tuesday, he introduced a new merchant banking boutique, Qatalyst Group, which he is starting in San Francisco with several former colleagues.

The new company has two parts - Qatalyst Capital Partners, which will make principal investments in technology companies alongside venture capital and private equity firms; and Qatalyst Partners, an investment banking arm that will advise companies on mergers and acquisitions, raise money and underwrite public offerings.

One of the best-known and highest-flying investment bankers during the dot-com boom, Quattrone - who worked at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse - participated in some of the biggest deals in Silicon Valley, including the initial public offerings of Netscape, Cisco and Amazon.com.

But he ran into trouble in 2003, when the federal government - investigating how investment banks were allocating shares in highly sought-after IPOs - indicted him for obstruction of justice after he forwarded an e-mail to employees of Credit Suisse to "clean up" their files.

His first trial in 2003 resulted in a hung jury, but in 2004, a second jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 18 months in prison.

That conviction was overturned two years later, however, and prosecutors declined to try him again.

Several prominent people in Silicon Valley on Tuesday released statements supporting Quattrone, including Eric Schmidt, the chairman and CEO of Google; Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit; and Jim Breyer, a partner in the venture capital firm Accel Partners. All said they look forward to doing business with him again.

"He was as highly regarded as anybody in the business," said Kip Sheeline, a managing partner with Levensohn Venture Partners in San Francisco. "It's healthy for Silicon Valley and technology companies to have another capable and fierce competitor."

Qatalyst's other founders are Jonathan Turner, former global head of Credit Suisse's Internet group; Adrian E. Dollard, formerly general counsel of Credit Suisse's technology group and a lawyer at Shearman & Sterling specializing in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and venture capital; and Neil Chalasani, most recently a vice president with Evercore's Technology, Media & Telecom group.

Also joining Qatalyst are Brian Slingerland, former vice president with Goldman, Sachs' Technology Media & Telecom group; and Brian Cayne, a former associate at Vista Equity Partners.

Qatalyst Partners, the investment banking arm, has applied to register as a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and for membership in FINRA, the securities industry self-regulatory authority, Quattrone said.

While these applications are pending, he and his team plan to operate as Qatalyst, a division of the San Francisco investment bank JMP Securities, so they can begin to advise clients immediately.

E-mail Deborah Gage at dgage@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Convicted paedophile kicked out of Australia arrives in Britain as experts warn: 'He'll strike again'

His head covered by a blanket and his distinctive white beard still visible, the 61-year-old was met by police at Heathrow before 6am.

He was deported to the UK after serving a 12-year jail sentence in Australia for 14 sex offences after he lured two homeless boys to his apartment while volunteering for a charity.

Scroll down for more ...

Convicted paedophile Raymond Horne covered his face with an airline blanket as he landed at Heathrow this morning

The face of the paedophile: Raymond Horne has been deported to Britain from Australia after a string of child sex assault convictions

Experts criticised Judy Spence, Queensland's Police Minister, for deporting Horne, who has lived in Australia since he was five.

Paul Roffey, director of UK-based RWA Child Protection Service, said: "Let's make it English children instead of Australian children - that seems to be her attitude. It's outrageous.

"These sort of committed paedophiles do not integrate well into society and that often leads to the formation of paedophile rings of like-minded people. Horne, who has lived most of his life in Australia, will have no network in the UK. He will feel even more isolated - increasing his risk of reoffending."

Horne spent the flight to London segregated from other passengers sitting behind a curtain in the crew area. He moved to Queensland in 1952 at the age of five and began offending in the Sixties. He has never been back to Britain since his family emigrated, but he never took Australian citizenship.

Horne has signed the sex offenders' register but will be free to choose where he lives in the UK. He faces a further five years in jail if he is caught alone with a child.

His prison doctor Wendell Rosevear said: "The risk of paedophiles reoffending is known to increase after deportation, due to heightened anxiety. I fear British children will be at risk after he settles into the community."

Professor Freda Biggs of Australian group Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse, said: "There are child sex offenders who should never be released and he's one of them."

Horne was already a repeat offender by the time he was 21, with convictions for assault, drug and sex offences. He spent two months in jail for abusing boys in 1968 and was jailed again in 1992 for indecently assaulting children under 14. He had parole the next year but reoffended within a month. Months after, he lured two boys aged 13 and 15 to his flat and abused them.

When he was jailed in 1996 after pleading guilty to 14 child sex offences the judge dubbed him as "a persistent sex offender who preyed upon young boys."

Australian authorities had planned to keep him behind bars indefinitely but last week declared him an "unlawful citizen" and sent him to Britain. The Immigration Department has not explained why Horne was not deported before.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iconocast is about learning and teaching without borders; we offer eMarketing, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Online Branding, and eMarketing News Services.

Iconocast Home Page

Contact Iconocast

Iconocast Health Articles

© 2003-07. ICONOCAST is a trademark of iconocast.com.