Middle market private equity firm Blackford Capital has appointed Ken Wagner as chief financial officer (CFO).

500 Global, a US-based venture capital firm, has promoted Amal Dokhan to General Partner 500 Global MENA. Dokhan joined 500 Global one year ago as Partner, 500 Global MENA to oversee the Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator programme and fund. Under her leadership, the fund has invested through the programme and directly in more than 40 seed-stage companies across the Middle East and North Africa. Several have subsequently raised millions in funding collectively. They include Starzly, a personalised entertainment app, Playbook, an edutainment platform, and Sanad Cash, an on-demand payment platform.

Squire Patton Boggs has appointed private equity lawyer Maxime Dequesne as a partner in its Corporate Practice in Paris. Dequesne was formerly a partner at French private equity boutique, Lamartine Conseil and previous to that worked at De Pardieu and SJ Berwin/KWM. The appointment follows in quick succession the hires earlier this month of private equity partner Anthony Guillaume, who joined from DLA and acquisition leverage finance partner Benjamin Marché who joined from Shearman & Sterling.

Venture capital specialist Redalpine has expanded its management team with the addition of Oliver Pabst as General Partner as of 1 May. Pabst, who holds a doctorate in economics, has many years of experience as an entrepreneur, manager and investor. After studying at the HSG and starting his professional career at McKinsey&Company, he held various positions in the sports and fashion industry, including managing director of the well-known brands Bogner and Mammut.  As an angel investor, Pabst has invested in numerous start-up companies in relevant areas such as eCommerce, retail, health tech or sustainability and has thus built up an

Middle-market, sector-focused private equity investment firm Red Arts Capital has expanded its team with the addition of Christopher DeLetto as Vice President and Indra Santhiapillai as the firm’s new Executive Assistant. The new hires come on the heels of two other additions to the firm, as the Red Arts team recently landed another VP, Michael Henkels, and Chief of Staff, Danielle Gerbie. DeLetto comes to Red Arts Capital after spending time as an investment professional at Grey Mountain Partners in Boulder, Colorado, a $550 million+ AUM asset management firm where he was responsible for sourcing, evaluating, executing and managing investments. 

Barnes & Thornburg has appointed Amy E Lott, a corporate and securities attorney, as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department in the firm’s Dallas office. Lott counsels privately held and venture-backed companies, banks, private funds, family offices, and entrepreneurs, both domestic and international, on a broad range of business transactions, investments, and compliance matters.   She focuses her practice on stock and asset acquisitions, private placements, Community Reinvestment Act-qualifying investments, and federal and state securities compliance in the application software, energy, real estate, healthcare, investment management, transportation, professional services, and manufacturing sectors.

HIG Capital (HIG), a global alternative investment firm with over $49 billion of capital under management, has appointed Oliver Slade as a managing director, based in Dubai. Slide, who will be responsible for capital raising and investor relations activities in the Middle East, has been based in the region since 2008 and has over 17 years of experience in alternative assets. He joins HIG from Partners Group, where he was the Head of Middle East and Africa, responsible for the development and capital raising activities across private markets funds and solutions in the region. Prior to Partners Group, Oliver held

Helios Investment Partners has appointed Wale Ayeni to head its venture capital strategy and launch Helios Digital Ventures. Ayeni was until recently at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where he was head of venture capital investments across Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.  Prior to joining the IFC, Ayeni led venture capital investments in Silicon Valley for Orange, the French telecoms company. He started his career as a microprocessor design engineer with Intel Corp. and later Qualcomm, before moving to JP Morgan’s Technology Investment Banking group in San Francisco. Helios

Global law firm Shearman & Sterling has appointed Phil Baynes as a funds partner in London. Baynes has wide-ranging experience advising investment fund managers on the structuring, marketing, fundraising and operation of a wide range of private investment funds –including private equity, infrastructure, real estate and debt funds – co-investment schemes, carried interest arrangements and secondaries transactions.   Baynes joins Shearman & Sterling from Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

Green Rock Energy Partners (Green Rock), a sustainable infrastructure focused private equity firm which invests in renewable energy companies and projects, has appointed Christine Gabbianelli as principal, head of investor relations. Gabbianelli brings more than a decade of private equity and financial services experience to the firm, complemented by her previous experience in the industrial products industry. She joins Green Rock from Fairview Capital Group, a global, independent secondary advisory firm focused on GP-led liquidity solutions, where she was a founding member and Principal of Investor Relations.