On the Move, 5.4.15

PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS

Jeff Rowbottom, head of capital markets for the Americas for KKR & Co LP, is resigning to join Israeli venture capital firm Pontifax Group., according to Bloomberg, which cited an internal memo sent by Adam Smith, global head of KKR Capital Markets. KKR spokeswoman Kristi Huller confirmed Rowbottom’s departure to Reuters. Cade Thompson will head KKR’s North American debt capital markets as Rowbottom departs, Bloomberg reported.

TPG Capital LP’s General Counsel Ronald Cami plans to leave the marquee private equity firm as it raises its targeted $10 billion TPG Partners VII. Cami, 47, will seek employment elsewhere, but the firm didn’t disclose a timetable. He’ll remain at TPG as its top in-house lawyer to assist the firm with the transition.

Abraaj Group has appointed Huda Al Lawati as a partner and chief investment officer for the Middle East and North Africa region, responsible for originating, executing and monitoring the group’s MENA investments. Al Lawati joined the firm in 2004 and was previously a managing director.

Affinity Equity Partners has hired Ronnie Behar, a senior Asia-Pacific M&A executive at Credit Suisse, as its Southeast Asia head, sources said. The move highlights a flurry of changes at major investment banks.

AlpInvest Partners, The Carlyle Group’s private equity fund of funds, recently named Noah Keys as a principal, according to a spokesperson. In his new position, Keys will be responsible for secondaries and co-investments in the energy, infrastructure and natural resources industries. Previously, Keys served as an executive director in UBS Investment Bank’s global energy group.

Blue Point Capital Partners has hired Brian Castleberry as a principal in its Charlotte, N.C., office. He was most recently a vice president at Red Ventures and previously worked as a vice president at Blue Point. The firm also promoted Jeff Robich and Ben Newman to vice president roles.

The Carlyle Group said Mike Duke has joined the firm as an Operating Executive in the Global Consumer & Retail group. Duke is the former President and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores.

U.K. mid-market private equity firm DunedIn has hired two analysts. Sophie Chambers and Katie Chung will both focus on identifying and assessing new investment opportunities. Chambers was previously an associate at Ennismore Capital, while Chung was a senior associate in the corporate finance team at PwC.

Global Environment Fund has appointed Alexandre Alvim as a managing director on its Latin America investment team. Alvim was a co-founder and managing partner of Greentech Capital.

H.I.G. Capital has named Henri Penchas to its Latin America advisory board. Penchas is a senior executive at Itaúsa.

KKR & Co has named Luis Téllez as a senior advisor, effective immediately. Téllez is a former board chairman and CEO of the Mexican Stock Exchange.

Robert Hays has joined Levine Leichtman Capital Partners as a managing director and co-head of investor relations. Most recently, Hays was director of investor relations at H.I.G. Capital for five years.

Levine Leichtman Capital Partners said that John O’Neill has recently joined the firm and is managing its London office. O’Neill, a managing director, will lead the firm’s efforts in investment opportunities throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. He was previously a partner at Graphite Capital.

Main Line Equity Partners has appointed Doug Hart as an operating partner. Previously, Hart was the director and COO at Uretek-Archer.

Pritzker Group Private Capital has appointed Gregg Kaplan as an operating partner for its services team. Kaplan is a founder and former CEO of Redbox.

Star Mountain Capital LLC has named Todd E. Benson as a strategic investor and senior advisor. Benson is a managing partner at Herington LLC. He is also a former managing partner and global co-head of Citigroup Private Equity.

TA Associates said that Daisy Cai has joined the Hong Kong office of TA Associates Asia Pacific Ltd as Director, China. Cai was previously with Goldman Sachs Investment Partners in Hong Kong.

LIMITED PARTNERS

Hermes GPE, which manages about $5 billion in private equity assets, is leaving Boston after only a few years and opening an office in New York as it continues to grow its presence in North America, sources told Buyouts. Michael Langdon, who has led the Boston office since 2013, has moved into a consulting role and will eventually leave the firm, two sources said. Saki Georgiadis, a partner who has headed Hermes’ Singapore office, is relocating to the U.S. to open the New York office, one source said. Hermes expects to have a total of three to four investment professionals, including Georgiadis, by the end of the year, the person said.

The New York City Retirement System has hired Eneasz Kadziela to replace veteran private equity officer James Del Gaudio, who left in March, according to a spokesman for the city comptroller’s office. Kadziela is one of four professionals to recently join the private markets team, but the names of the others have not been publicized. Kadziela was previously director of research and fund relations for the trade group Small Business Investor Alliance.

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Abila, a portfolio company of Accel-KKR, said it has named Jeff Cross CFO. Most recently, Cross served in a consulting role with DigitalGlobe.

Zenith American Solutions, which is backed by Water Street Healthcare Partners, has hired Keith Saeger as vice president of business development for the Central and Midwestern states. The provider of administrative services also named Jay White as vice president of business development for the Southeast and East Coast states. Previously, Saeger worked at Associated Bank and White was at Aetna. 

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Law firm Goodwin Procter has hired Richard Lever as a partner in the firm’s private equity practice. Previously, Lever worked at King & Wood Mallesons. Lever is based in the firm’s London office.

Online private equity platform iCapital Network has hired Michael Mastey as senior vice president of its investor network with responsibility for the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. ICapital also named Melissa Iagulli as senior vice president of its investor network covering the West Coast. Previously, Mastey worked at PNC Capital Advisors and Iagulli was at Charles Schwab & Co.

MVision has named Kay Blackwell and Erica Johnson as managing directors and William Riedlinger as director. All three are based in the firm’s New York office. Previously, Blackwell worked at Citi Private Bank, Johnson was at ERJ Group, and Riedlinger held positions at Barclays Wealth and Atlantic-Pacific Capital.

Law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has added Hiroshi Sarumida as a partner in the firm’s New York office. He joins the M&A and private equity group from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Sarumida will also be the U.S. chair of Orrick’s Japan transactional practice.

Capital solutions provider ORIX USA has hired Ben Harris as a director focused on business development on its leveraged finance team. Prior to ORIX, Harris worked at Prospect Capital and before that he worked in the sponsor finance unit of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Arcapita’s private equity group.

Steve Cohen’s family office, Point72 Asset Management, has hired Michael Zea as chief of strategy. Zea will lead Point72’s exploration of new investment areas for deploying the family office’s surplus capital. Prior to Point72, Zea worked as executive vice president at Aimia Inc, a data-driven marketing analytics company. Prior to Aimia, he was a partner at McKinsey & Co.

Wells Fargo Capital Finance has named Guy Fuchs as president and chief operating officer. Fuchs first joined Wells Fargo in 2001. His previous work experience includes positions at GE Capital and CIT Group. 

PROMOTIONS

TPG Capital LP has named Todd Sisitsky its new North American private equity head, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Sisitsky, who is based in San Francisco, will also continue to lead the firm’s healthcare investing globally, the people said. Sisitsky’s official title will be managing partner of TPG Capital North America, they said.

Dunedin, a U.K.-based middle-market private equity firm, has promoted Oliver Bevan to partner and Karan Darroch to finance and operations manager.

Investment bank Sperry, Mitchell & Co has made three promotions. Tom Pogacnik has been promoted to Managing Director, Daniel Officer has been promoted to Senior Vice President, and Melissa Cole has been promoted to Senior Associate.