SAN FRANCISCO -- Former BankAmerica Corp. vice chairman Nicholas B. Binkley and two of his associates at the San Francisco company have gone into the venture capital business.
Mr. Binkley's partners are Gregory J. Forrest, 45, who was chairman and president of BankAmerica's venture capital subsidiary before resigning last month, and Jeffrey J. Brown, 32, a senior vice president in the unit. The three, who will operate out of Newport Beach, Calif., worked for Security Pacific Corp. before BankAmerica acquired it in 1992.
SBA Investments
The partners said in a statement Wednesday they will manage a venture capital fund, with Sid R. and Lee M. Bass of Fort Worth as limited partners. The amount to be contributed by the Bass brothers was not disclosed.
The fund will specialize in Small Business Administration investment programs, financing growth companies in financial services and other industries. Forrest Binkley & Brown, as the firm is known, said it will have more than $ 1 00 million to invest, including funding from the SBA, once it is licensed to operate a small-business investment limited partnership.
At Security Pacific, Mr. Binkley 47, was a vice chairman and head of nonbanking subsidiaries. He retained those roles after the merger and was one of three Security Pacific executives given seats on BankAmerica's board.
Reportedly Taken off Board.
But chairman and chief executive Richard M. Rosenberg removed him from the board earlier this year, people familiar with the situation said.
Mr. Binkley resigned abruptly from the company, although he had been named only weeks earlier to run California commercial banking and commercial real estate activities. He collected a separation package valued at an estimated $2 million. ,
BankAmerica and a Binkley spokeswoman declined to comment on the circumstances of his departure.
