Apollo adds in-house attorney

New York-based private equity real estate firm Apollo Real Estate Advisors has appointed Cindy Wenig as general counsel.

Prior to Apollo, Wenig spent 16 years at Chad-bourne & Parke LLP where she led the law firm's real estate practice.

At Chadbourne, Wenig advised clients on real estate transactions including the acquisition, leasing, financing and sale of office, residential, hospitality, industrial, green energy projects and infrastructure development.

Wenig also represented clients in large scale redevelopment projects in New York City, including the redevelopment of 125th Street in Harlem and The World Trade Center site.

She also advised private equity funds on real estate investments in the US and abroad.

?My experience is very broad: both US and international, and everything from windstorm developments to commercial transactions to residential transactions,? says Wenig. She will oversee all legal matters at Apollo for its activities in the US and abroad.

A member of the board of directors of WX, Women Executives in Real Estate and a frequent speaker at real estate industry events, Wenig holds a BA from Princeton University and a JD from Columbia Law School.

Apollo, based in New York, closed its most recent US-focused opportunity fund in March of last year on $700 million (€493 million).

Last month, the firm and joint venture partner Brack Capital agreed to a $45.5 million finance package with Hypo Real Estate for the construction of a 41,000-square-meter logistics complex in Moscow.

Private exchange groups to consolidate
Wall Street investment banks are working with NASDAQ to create a single private exchange for qualified institutional buyers. For private equity firms, the exchanges present a means of raising permanent capital without the disclosure requirements of listing on a public exchange. Bear Stearns, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Wachovia Securities are all signed up to the project. So too are the backers of private exchange OPUS-5: Citi, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, UBS and Bank of America. NASDAQ is calling the scheme the Portal Alliance. Now all of the investment houses will consolidate their exchanges with NASDAQ's Portal system, which the stock exchange moved to an electronic platform this year. The Portal Alliance is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2008. Oaktree Capital Management and Apollo Management Group both listed on the GSTrUE this year. When the new market launches, their shares will be migrated into the new market.

PEC taps Grassley's chief of staff
US trade group the Private Equity Council has hired the former chief of staff of Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, the Congressman who introduced the bill to raise tax rates on the industry when buyout firms take their partnerships public. Kenneth Cunningham was Grassley's chief of staff and general counsel until he left in early 2006 to start his own lobbyist firm. The lobbyist was also tapped by the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on behalf of KKR to lobby against the tax increases. In most cases, senior level staffers are banned for one year from lobbying the congressional office or committee that employed them.

Lloyds appoints partnerships director
UK financial services institution Lloyds has moved Edward Hayter to a new role within the firm. Hayter will join Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC), a mid-market private equity provider, as partnerships director. Hayter will be responsible for working with LDC's portfolio companies to deliver profit improvements through better procurement, identify and deliver cross-selling opportunities within the portfolio, and research and potentially implement opportunities for a pan-portfolio procurement program. He will report directly to chief operating officer Candida Morley. Hayter joins LDC from Lloyds TSB Bank (LTSB), where he was head of strategy in the international banking division and before that, head of international advisory services at LTSB's external management consultancy practice. Darryl Eales, chief executive of LDC, said in a statement: ?We are delighted to welcome Edward to LDC where his expertise of relationship management, particularly with partner organizations, will be a great asset in achieving growth opportunities for LDC and its portfolio companies.?

Study: big funds pay better
A recently released private equity compensation survey has shown that the gap in pay levels between larger private equity funds and smaller private equity funds has grown as the amount raised by larger funds has grown. Results of the 2008 Private Equity Compensation Report from Glocap Search and Thomson Financial tracked pay at US private equity firms. Among the findings were that private equity firms with more than $5 billion in assets are now paying senior associates total cash compensation of $420,000, a 9 percent increase over 2006. Vice presidents at large buyout funds earned an average of $660,000, an 8 percent increase. Principals at large firms earned $848,000, an 11 percent increase. Senior associates at ?large venture capital? firms and funds of funds were $276,000 and $241,000, respectively.