He has friends and acquaintances out East (5)
I believe the answer is:
keith
'he' is the definition.
'friends and acquaintances out east' is the wordplay.
'friends and acquaintances' becomes 'kith' (I've seen this in another clue).
'out' indicates putting letters inside.
'east' becomes 'E' (synonyms).
'kith' going around 'e' is 'KEITH'.
'has' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for keith that I've seen before include "Man" , "Man's name" , "----- Floyd, TV cook and raconteur" , "----- Jarrett, American jazz pianist" .)