IDB Bank expanded its sponsor and leverage finance team, hiring James Dunleavey as senior vice president and manager; Tom Savage as senior vice president, originator and senior relationship manager; Michael McIntyre as first vice president, senior relationship manager and portfolio manager; and Paul Muzzio as vice president, relationship manager and portfolio manager. All four professionals previously worked as a team with Investors Bank, a division of Citizens Bank.

Dunleavy has nearly 35 years of experience and will lead the team. He joined IDB Bank following an eight-year tenure with Investors Bank, where he launched the sponsor finance group and grew the loan portfolio to more than $600 million in senior credit facilities across a variety of industries. Prior to his time with Investors Bank, he held senior leadership roles with several financial institutions, including Merrill Lynch Capital, IBJ Whitehall Bank & Trust and National Westminster Bank.

Savage joined IDB with more than 30 years of experience within the financial services sector, most recently serving as senior vice president of the sponsor finance group with Investors Bank. In this role, he led the origination, underwriting and management of cash flow loans for companies located throughout the United States, principally those owned by private equity sponsors with funds sized between $250 million and $1 billion, independent sponsors and family offices. Prior to his role with Investors Bank, Savage held several senior leadership roles with financial institutions including Capital One and TD Bank. He additionally spent more than a decade working with Spire Capital, a private equity firm focusing on investments in tech-enabled business services, as well as the media, education and communication sectors.

McIntyre has more than 30 years of experience as a cash flow and asset-based lender. He joined IDB following an eight-year tenure with Investors Bank, where he was a member of the sponsor finance group and was responsible for structuring, underwriting, negotiating and closing senior cash flow loans for portfolio companies. Prior to his time with Investors Bank, McIntyre held roles with several financial organizations, including Amalgamated Bank, GE Capital and CIT.

Muzzio joined IDB following more than eight years with Investors Bank, where he most recently served as assistant vice president of the sponsor finance group. In this role, he spearheaded underwriting responsibilities across multiple financing opportunities. Muzzio additionally graduated from the bank’s credit training program and held roles with general commercial and industrial lending teams prior to joining the sponsor finance group.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jim, Tom, Michael and Paul to our team,” Ziv Biron, president and CEO of IDB Bank, said. “This is a strategic expansion of our syndications group as we continue growing our business across the country and delivering a variety of financing capabilities and services that will meet the growing needs of our clients well into the future.”

IDB Bank’s recently formed and expanded sponsor and leverage finance team will also include David Gilio as senior vice president of sponsor finance. Gilio joined IDB in February 2021 with more than 30 years of leverage finance and leadership experience. Prior to joining the bank, he served as the managing director and sector head of leveraged finance within BNP Paribas, where he led his team in the origination, negotiation and execution of leverage financing opportunities in multiple sectors for private equity firms, closing more than $6.75 billion in transactions as both a lead and joint arranger. He additionally held positions within the leverage and sponsor finance groups with Royal Bank of Scotland and TD Securities

“The recent strategic expansion of [the] sponsor and leverage finance team is a tremendous win for our organization,” Lissa Baum, head of IDB New York Commercial Banking, said. “In harnessing the expertise of these five high-profile and well-regarded leverage finance specialists, we plan to further advance our profile within this exciting and growing sector of commercial banking.”

IDB’s sponsor and leverage finance team will report to Christopher Dowd, head of syndications and sponsor and leverage finance at the bank.