Global law firm Goodwin has appointed fund formation specialist Sebastian Bruchwitz as a partner in the firm’s Private Investment Funds and Secondaries practice in Frankfurt. “We are very excited that Sebastian will be joining our rapidly expanding German platform to help service our client base at the intersection of capital and innovation,” says Stephan Kock, chair of Goodwin’s Frankfurt office. “Sebastian’s stand-out experience in fund formation, structuring, and investments brings additional depth and quality to our global private investment funds team and enhances our coverage of real estate, private equity and debt funds transactions.”   Bruchwitz advises asset managers, sponsors,

The Board of Directors of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) have appointed Kofo Sanusi as Chief Operating Officer (COO).   Sanusi joins AVCA from Founders Factory Africa (FFA), a venture development company investing in start-ups in sub-Saharan Africa. As Chief Operating Officer and Accelerator Director, she was responsible for overseeing the company’s financial and operational activities and leading investments and support to early-stage start-ups to scale across Africa. Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, AVCA CEO, says: “Kofo is the right person to support the Association as we implement the strategic vision and continue to deliver value for our members.

Kirkland & Ellis has appointed Gregory Scott as a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm’s London office.  Scott advises private equity houses and other financial sponsor clients on all types of M&A transactions including leveraged buy-outs, carve-outs, mergers and exits across a variety of business sectors.   Scott will join Kirkland from the London office of Clifford Chance.   Kirkland’s dedicated private equity practice is the largest in the European market, acting for a diverse mix of top private equity and financial sponsor clients on multiple deals across multiple sectors and geographies. Kirkland advises across the full

Oak Hill Capital Partners has appointed Nicole Arnaboldi as a Partner. Arnaboldi brings over 30 years of professional and investment experience, most recently as a Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse Asset Management, where she also served as the head of the Direct Equity Partners business and oversaw the bank’s legacy private equity portfolio. “We are delighted to welcome Nicole to the Oak Hill team. Steve [Oak Hill Capital Managing Partner Steve Puccinelli] and I worked together with Nicole at DLJ Merchant Banking and I have tremendous admiration for her as an outstanding leader who has a strong

International law firm Clifford Chance has boosted its German private equity team with the additions of partners Volkmar Bruckner and Mark Aschenbrenner as well as senior associate Samuel Frommelt.  All of the new additions will be working from Clifford Chance’s Munich office, while at the same time further strengthening the German and international transaction team with their specialist expertise and market experience. Bruckner is an experienced private equity specialist advising investors, management teams and companies on complex regional and international large cap and mid cap as well as M&A transactions, in particular leveraged buy-outs, carve-outs and joint ventures. Aschenbrenner has

Akin Gump has appointed investment management specialist Brian T Daly as a partner in the firm’s New York office. Read the full story at Hedgeweek…

Kinzie Capital Partners LLC (Kinzie), a Chicago-based private equity firm, has appointed two new team members as it continues to expand.   Peter Hanselmann, previously a Senior Consultant at Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services, is joining Kinzie as Vice President of Finance and Davis DeKorte, previously an Investment Banking Associate at Stout, is joining as a Senior Analyst on the Investment Team. The new hires come as Kinzie continues to make additional investments in lower middle market companies across the country, including the recent acquisition of Chelsea Lighting NYC, LLC, the largest independent lighting and lighting controls distributor serving the

Private equity house YFM Equity Partners (YFM), which has offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, has promoted David Wrench to equity partner as it continues to strengthen its investment team. With more than 12 years’ experience in corporate finance, Wrench joined the London team as an investment director in April 2020 to provide further focus on YFM in the South West and Thames Valley regions.   Since joining the team, Wrench has assisted in the completion of four new investments, including a GBP3.75 million growth capital investment into the global commodity broker Arraco Global Markets; a GBP7 million investment

New alternative lender Blazehill Capital has appointed Jake Hyman as Business Development Director, signalling its commitment to sourcing and executing complex credit opportunities in the UK mid-market. Blazehill Capital typically provides secured lending ranging from GBP5 million to GBP30 million per transaction, delivering fast and flexible credit solutions to companies with non-standard lending requirements that are often complex and time critical. The firm’s ambition is to build a lending book of over GBP1billion in five years. Hyman will lead the origination efforts for Blazehill Capital in London and the South. He started his career at EY before working for Wells

Financial Services Capital, a private equity investor dedicated to the European financial services sector, has appointed Kevin Cunningham, an insurance specialist with more than 25 years’ experience in the financial services industry, as its newest Partner. Cunningham, who will lead FSC’s investments in the insurance sector, joins from Stephens Europe, where he was a Managing Director of the Financial Services Group. He has over two decades of investment banking experience, advising public and private insurance companies on mergers, acquisitions, strategy, restructurings and fundraisings, and has broad experience across the financial services sector. Kevin was also one of the founders of