Private Equity Firms

3i Group said its chief executive Michael Queen had decided to quit after almost 25 years at the firm, Reuters reported. 3i said that it has started the process to find a successor.

Business Growth Fund, a fund established to help the UK’s smaller and medium sized businesses, has appointed Cate Poulson as head of BGF’s talent network, to develop the firm’s relationships with a network of experienced business leaders. BGF is an independent company with capital of up to £2.5 billion ($3.9 billion), backed by five of the UK’s main banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, and Standard Chartered. Poulson formerly managed executive relationships for 3i Group and worked in the private equity practice of executive search firm Korn/Ferry|Whitehead Mann.

Bertrand Meunier has joined CVC Capital Partners as a managing partner and member of the private equity board. He will be based in London where he will have global responsibilities including leading the newly formed global consumer goods sector and overseeing the development of the firm in France.

Darby Overseas Investments, the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, has added S. Scott Gregory as a managing director; and Arkadiusz Podziewski as principal and head of its Warsaw office. Gregory previously worked in institutional sales of private equity and hedge funds at Knight Capital Partners and at Mallory Capital Group. Podziewski spent nine years, most recently as partner, at Innova Capital where he working on buy-out and growth capital transactions in Poland and central eastern Europe.

Energy-focused investment group First Reserve Corporation has appointed Alex T. Krueger as president. He has been with First Reserve for 13 years, most recently serving as a managing director in London. He was previously co-head of First Reserve’s buyout funds and has expertise in natural resources.

European sector-focused private equity investor HgCapital has promoted Kai Romberg to partner. He joined HgCapital in 2004 as an associate and has been involved in deals such as SiTel, Addison, Visma, CSG, Achilles, Lumesse, TeamSystem and Teufel.

Artis Terrell has joined Highland Capital Management, the global alternative credit manager, as a director of business development. Terrell was previously a principal at the Williams Capital Group.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has hired Tashwinder Singh, a former Citigroup executive, as its director to grow KKR’s private equity and non-banking finance operations in India, Reuters reported. Singh has been with Citigroup for 18 years.

Timothy Grady has left Mount Kellett Capital, a private equity firm founded by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive Mark McGoldrick, Reuters reported. Grady, a Hong Kong-based managing director, was with the firm for about 18 months.

PineBridge Investments has appointed Talal Al Zain to the post of chief executive officer of the firm’s Middle East and North Africa operations. Al Zain was previously CEO of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co., the sovereign wealth fund and investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

TSG Consumer Partners has elected James L. O’Hara to be its president. O’Hara, who also continues as a managing director of TSG, joined the firm in 1998. TSG Consumer Partners has more than $2.9 billion in equity capital under management.