Zeus appoints leveraged expert

Zeus Private Equity (ZPE), the UK regional private equity firm, has made its first appointment following its office move to larger premises at Lowry House, Marble Street in Manchester city centre.

James Winterbottom joins from Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, and brings with him experience in corporate and structured banking, specifically executing leveraged transactions for small and mid-cap businesses across the North.

Since its launch in December 2006, ZPE has completed a total of eight deals, including four recent hotel acquisitions for its investment in Hallmark Hotel Group. Other investments include growth capital for the online retailer Flowers Direct, the £23m MBO of Hampshire-based IT networking services supplier Electranet, and the £25m MBO of telecoms solutions provider XLN Telecom.