Frontline – April 2006

New recruit for Monument in London
Monument Group, the Boston-headquartered private equity placement agent, has hired Martin Anthonsen as a director in its London office. Anthonsen was previously cofounder and CIO of Nordic Alternative Investment Advisors (NAIA), a Stockholm-based investment group managing €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) of private equity and hedge fund assets on behalf of Swedish banking, pension and insurance group Lönsförsökringar. Monument launched its London office in November 2005 under the leadership of cofounder and managing director John McLaren.

US placement pro launches India operation
Devi Capital, a New York-based fund placement and consulting business, has been launched with the aim of connecting limited partners with Indian fund managers. The agency has been established by Jyoti Aggarwala, a former managing director at Thomas Capital Group, the Washington-based placement agent and strategic adviser. Devi will work in affiliation with Centenium Advisers to perform reference checks, help in the due diligence process and make connections for those wishing to invest in the sub-continent.

New chairman at UK wealth manager
Heartwood, the Tunbridge Wells, England-based investment and wealth management business, has appointed John Heskett as chairman. Heskett spent over 30 years at Baring Group in corporate finance, banking and asset management and was chief investment officer at Baring Asset Management’s fixed income business. Heartwood, which was bought out by management and staff in December 2005, manages and administers £700 million of funds on behalf of ultra and high net worth individuals, family offices, trusts and charities.

Atlantic Pacific hires three pros
Atlantic-Pacific Capital, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based private equity placement agency, recently added three professionals to its roster. Scott Richter was named a principal focused on West Coast sales distribution. Richter was previously a managing director at Bear Stearns. Victor Manuel was named a vice president. He previously was a co-founder of corporate event and travel management firm The Lynx Group. Brendan Edmonds was named as a vice president focused on Midwestern sales distribution. He previously was a senior associate with Denning & Co., the San Francisco-based placement agent. Atlantic Pacific was founded in 1995 by James Manley.

Broadgate vet opens new PR shop
Chris Tofalli has left New York-based corporate and communications adviser Broadgate Consultants to set up a public relations boutique. Chris Tofalli Public Relations, to be located in New York, will provide PR support relating to transactions, brand building, crisis communications, investor relations, and portfolio company support for private equity firms.

New reporting platform from HSBC
HSBC’s alternative fund services unit has launched Office, a web-based client reporting platform for hedge funds and funds of funds. In a statement, HSBC said the platform ?gives users the ability to quickly find data, download or view online reports, transactions, debits and credits, and daily P&L.? The product acts as a central data portal, providing ?secure, streamlined online access to fund accounting and valuations.?

Cuerden joins Deloitte UK forensics team
Deloitte, the international business advisory firm, has appointed Simon Cuerden to head up its forensic accounting practice in the North of England. Cuerden, who has specialized in forensic accounting since 1992, was previously a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has long experience in the disputes and investigations arenas, assisting clients on national and international projects. A spokesperson for Deloitte told Private Equity Manager much of the forensic team’s work is on behalf of private equity clients, in particular ?integrity due diligence in countries that do not have traditional Western legal models.?

Segalen heads Christian & Timbers Paris push
US-based executive search firm Christian & Timbers has expanded its European presence with the opening of a Paris office to complement its London office. An initial team of eight includes Diane Segalen, who has been appointed vice chairman of global operations with responsibility for recruiting private equity executives as well as financial services, administrators and corporate finance professionals. Segalen was previously at rival US-based executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, where she was a senior partner specializing in corporate finance. Christian & Timbers is understood to be seeking to grow the Paris team to 20 by the end of the year.

Harris Williams transport group gears up
Richmond, Virginia-based mid-market investment bank Harris Williams & Co has launched a new dedicated transportation and logistics group headed by director Bram Hall. The group will focus on serving manufacturing, distribution and services businesses in the automotive, transport and logistics industries. ?We have closed numerous deals within this category already, and believe there is potential for significant future growth with a dedicated effort,? said Hall in a statement. The firm started its first industry vertical in 2002 with its healthcare and life sciences group and says it will ?continue to develop dedicated industry verticals where appropriate.? In separate news, Harris Williams announced it has appointed Glenn Gurtcheff to launch a new office based in Minneapolis. Gurtcheff was formerly the co-head of Piper Jaffray’s middle market mergers and acquisitions group.

Deutsche combines leverage/sponsor teams
The investment bank has combined its European financial sponsors and leveraged finance divisions, with the enlarged entity to be headed by William Maltby. Deutsche Bank said the move would more effectively manage the ?close working relationship? between the two groups. London-based Maltby joined the European financial sponsors group at Deutsche ten years ago having previously worked in the M&A team at Morgan Grenfell. Maltby said around 60 percent of the leveraged finance group’s revenues came from the financial sponsors division. He confirmed that Bruno Rigal and Andreas Haindl, managing directors in the financial sponsors team, are in the process of resigning from Deutsche Bank. He declined to comment on their plans.

Bear, Churchill launch mid-market debt unit
Bear Stearns Merchant Banking has teamed with Churchill Capital to establish Churchill Financial Holdings, a New York-based commercial finance operation focused exclusively on the mid-market. Churchill Financial is backed by over $500 million of committed capital and will provide senior debt and mezzanine. Ken Kencel, former head of Indosuez Capital and the leveraged finance arm of Royal Bank of Canada, becomes CEO of Churchill Financial. He is joined by GE/Antares veteran George Kurteson and ex-IBJ Whitehall CFO Alastair Merrick.

E&Y names global private equity head
Simon Perry has been appointed as the first global private equity leader of consulting firm Ernst & Young. Perry was made partner in 1988 and has since held a number of leadership roles at the firm, and was most recently managing partner of Ernst & Young’s UK transaction advisory services group. Based at the firm’s London offices, Perry is anticipated to work closely with Ernst & Young’s Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific offices to grow the firm’s private equity business.

Mourant launches Guernsey legal practice
Mourant du Feu & Jeune, the Jersey-based fund administration specialist, has launched a new legal practice on the neighboring Channel Island of Guernsey. The practice will specialize in international financial business with a particular focus on establishing and advising private equity, property and hedge funds. The practice complements Mourant’s existing Guernsey fund administration business, which was launched in 2002. The legal practice is headed by Darren Bacon, who has joined from Channel Islands law firm Carey Olsen. Bacon was formerly in the securities and investments group of London-based law firm Lovells and was an in-house lawyer at an investment bank. Bacon is joined by advocate Kathryn Christie from Collas Day, another Channel Islands law firm. Separately, Mourant has promoted Daniel Birtwistle to managing partner in its City of London office. Birtwistle became a partner at Mourant in October 2004.

AlixPartners hires senior duo
AlixPartners, the international corporate turnaround, performance improvement and advisory firm, has made two senior appointments. Alan Holtz has joined as a managing director in the firm’s New York office to focus on expanding AlixPartners’ restructuring advisory practice. Holtz was previously managing director at Giuliani Capital Advisors, formerly known as Ernst & Young Corporate Finance (EYCF) when it was a subsidiary of Ernst & Young. At EYCF, he led the firm’s work in the Enron Corp bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Jeffry Boston has joined AlixPartners as a managing director in the Chicago office. He was previously CEO of Verify and Protect, a Chicago-based security software company that he led from creation in 2002 to sale.