Service Providers

Abacus Finance Group has added three new members to its transaction team. Timothy Wong has been named a vice president; Eric Petersen has become an associate; and Chengyuan Zhao is now an analyst. Also, Sean McKeever, a senior vice president, has been promoted to head of underwriting and portfolio management. A New York-based specialty finance company, Abacus provides cash flow senior financing for private equity-sponsored, lower-middle market companies.

Saba Nazar, co-head of financial sponsors at Nomura, is moving to Bank of America Merrill Lynch to take a similar role, Reuters reported, citing an internal BAML memo.

Canaccord Genuity has named Geoffrey A. Richards as the firm’s managing director, head of US special situations and restructuring. Richards will be based in the firm’s US headquarters in New York City. Prior to joining Canaccord Genuity, Richards headed the special situations and restructuring group at William Blair & Company. Canaccord Genuity, which also has offices in Canada, is the global capital markets division of Canaccord Financial, a provider of financial services.

CTPartners has named Paul Aldrich and Tim Kemp as heads of the firm’s global chief human resources officer practice in Asia and Europe, respectively. Headquartered in New York, with offices all over the world, CTPartners is an executive search firm that serves a variety of sectors, including private equity and venture capital.

England & Company has named Corey Luskin as a managing director in its technology investment banking group. Luskin, who will be based in the company’s New York City office, previously worked at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Smith Barney, Landmark Ventures and the Garros Group, where he was a member of the founding team. A mid-market merchant bank, England & Company has offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Euro Pacific Canada has opened a new office in Tokyo, Japan. It will be headed by Shinichi Muto and supported by Blair Jordan in Euro Pacific Canada’s Vancouver office. The Japan office will provide advisory services to companies seeking access to Japanese strategic investors, and to Japanese companies conducting outbound mergers, acquisitions and investments. Headquartered in Toronto, Euro Pacific Canada is a Canadian registered brokerage firm. The company also named Pierre-Yves Terrisse as vice president of institutional sales and Richard Ouellette as vice president of institutional trading. Both will be based in Euro Pacific’s Montreal office.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, an international law firm, said David J. Greenwald will rejoin the firm in a leadership capacity. Valerie Ford Jacob, who is the firm’s current chairwoman, and Greenwald will serve as co-chairs through February 2015. And, starting in March 2015, Greenwald will lead the firm as chairman while Jacob will become a senior partner at Fried Frank. Greenwald, who is currently a deputy general counsel and international general counsel at the Goldman Sachs Group, previously worked at Fried Frank where he focused on mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions while representing clients such as Goldman Sachs and Forstmann Little.

NXT Capital’s corporate finance group has formed a direct originations team. Richard Rodgers, who most recently was a managing director of the central region for GE Capital’s corporate lending group, will lead the team. The direct originations team will focus on sourcing senior secured, stretch, unitranche and second lien cash flow loans for non-sponsored mid-market companies.

David Wright has joined the Parthenon Group as a senior adviser for Australia and New Zealand. Wright formerly was vice president of Macquarie University. Boston-based Parthenon is an advisory firm focused on strategy consulting.

Private Equity Headhunters has named Jaree Zafar as its new chief technology officer. In his new position, Zafar will be responsible for managing the company’s IT department. Zafar has worked as an adviser and consultant with the company’s IT department and executive team since 2010. Based in Dallas, Private Equity Headhunters is an executive recruitment firm that specializes in the private equity/venture capital sector.

Global law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton has named Ariel Yehezkel as a partner in its New York-based corporate practice group. An experienced private equity attorney, Yehezkel joins the firm from Kirkland & Ellis.

Law firm Sidley Austin LLP has named Herschel T. Hamner III as a partner in its global finance practice. Hamner will work in the firm’s Houston office.

Executive search firm True has expanded its San Francisco office, adding three new senior team members Mark Jacobsen, Rhoda Longhenry and Mike Mangini. True specializes in placements for venture and growth-stage software and internet companies backed by international technology investors.

Ulmer & Berne has hired Patrick G. King to join the law firm’s financial services and securities litigation practice as a partner. King, who will be based in the firm’s Chicago office, previously worked at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, where he served as a partner.