Montagu loses head of UK and Nordic

Montagu Private Equity, a UK mid-market private equity firm, has confirmed that Nigel Hammond, its head of UK and Nordic investment, has left the firm.

Hammond, who has been with Montagu Private Equity for 11 years, is currently on sabbatical but is not due to return to the firm when it finishes at the end of the year. Hammond is leaving to pursue personal interests and is not expected to return to private equity.

It is understood that the departure will not trigger a key man clause, a contractual provision within private equity firms wherein limited partners can cancel their commitments to a fund when a senior partner leaves.

Hammond’s departure follows that of Phil Goodwin, another head of UK investment, who left Montagu Private Equity during the fundraising process for Montagu III, the firm’s first independent fund since spinning out from HSBC bank in 2003. The fund closed with €2.26bn of commitments in July 2005.

HSBC committed about 25 percent of the fund’s final total, as well as €150m from a private banking syndicate of HSBC clients. Other investors in the vehicle were not disclosed.

Hammond joined Montagu Private Equity in 1995 after five years at global private equity firm 3i. A graduate in civil engineering, he began his career with Pannell Kerr Forster where he qualified as a chartered accountant.

Deals Hammond worked on at Montagu Private Equity include the buyout of Stabilus, a German manufacturer of gas springs and dampers, from Demag in 2004 and Actaris, a French meter maker sold to LBO France in 2005.