Interop adds to board of directors

FORT MYERS, USA: Interop Technologies, a provider of core wireless solutions for messaging, device management, and connectivity gateways, has added two new members to its board of directors.

Fred Tannenbaum, Managing Partner of the Chicago law firm Gould & Ratner LLP, and Brian Rich, Managing Partner of New York-based Catalyst Investors LLC, will advise Interop Technologies on business strategy and operations.

Drawing on their strong backgrounds in the wireless business, Tannenbaum and Rich will provide additional legal and financial expertise to the Interop board and support the company’s plans for further growth.

Tannenbaum has been a practicing business lawyer for more than 25 years and has been involved in the telecommunications industry since the early days of cellular. He has represented wireless service providers, Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs), Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), private equity funds, tower lessors and lessees, and many others, representing more than $15 billion in transactions.

Tannenbaum has been recognized by the Illinois Venture Capital Association as a leading expert on private equity and venture capital, by a national bar association as a leading authority on mergers and acquisitions, and by Crain’s Chicago Business as a top expert on family-owned businesses. He has also been voted an Illinois SuperLawyer and has been featured as a top business lawyer in Leading Lawyers Network. Tannenbaum is a member of the Executive Committee and past President of Law Exchange International.

Brian Rich has been involved with private equity investments in high-growth companies with a focus on tech-enabled services, including software-as-a-service, digital media, Internet infrastructure, wireless communications, and business and consumer services, among others. Prior to co-founding Catalyst Investors, Rich founded and managed TD Capital (USA) Inc., the entity responsible for Toronto Dominion Bank’s U.S.-based equity, mezzanine, and limited partnership investments from 1995 to 1999. As head of TD Capital (USA), he oversaw the funding of more than 30 investments totaling more than $500 million in commitments in the wireless and wired communications, cable TV, and broadcast industries.