Mid-market private equity firm ECI Partners has appointed three new Partners, among a raft of other senior promotions. Despite market uncertainty, ECI’s portfolio has remained resilient, and the business delivered on five new investments and five exits over the course of the year.   Michael Butler, Duncan Ramsay and Stephen Roberts have all been promoted to Partner. Together, they have a wealth of experience at ECI and have played a key role in delivering growth for investments across all sectors in ECI’s portfolio.   Prior to joining ECI, Butler held roles at Canaccord Genuity and Deloitte. Butler led the recent investment

Sidley Austin has appointed Idan Netser and Andrew Harper as transactional partners in the firm’s Palo Alto office. Netser will be a member of the Emerging Companies and Venture Capital, and Tax practices while Harper will be a member of the Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice. Both Netser and Harper join Sidley from Fenwick & West LLP.   “The addition of Idan and Andrew marks an important milestone in our strategic expansion in Northern California and in our emerging company technology practice more generally,” says Martin Wellington, managing partner of Sidley’s office in Palo Alto. “Idan has a well-deserved reputation

Edge Investments (Edge), a growth investor in the UK creative economy, has appointed Simon Andrews as Chief Investment Officer (CIO), to help drive growth and realise the potential of its current and future portfolio companies.Andrews has a wealth of experience throughout the venture capital world, joining Edge from the Business Growth Fund (BGF), the UK’s most active investment company, and having spent nearly eight years at Octopus Ventures prior to that. Before moving into venture capital entirely, Simon worked at Silicon Valley Bank working around M&A Advisory and debt financing solutions for venture-backed companies. He has also held positions at

Aksia has hired Chris Thorne as a Managing Director for Private Equity & Real Assets Research in its London office, where he will be involved in all phases of the investment process including sourcing, due diligence, monitoring and assisting the Portfolio Advisory team.Thorne brings over fifteen years of experience investing capital across the European and US private equity markets, and twenty-three years of private equity experience in total including his advisory roles. Most recently, Thorne was a Managing Director and day to day responsible for European Primary Private Equity Funds and syndicated Co-investments at Temasek in London for seven years.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed has elected three new partners and five new counsel, effective 1 January, 2021.“We are thrilled to congratulate these outstanding lawyers on their well-deserved promotions,” says Ted Mayer, chair of Hughes Hubbard. “They are leaders in their fields and not only bring a tremendous amount of specialised experience but also a depth of commitment to client service.”   The new partners are Michael DeBernardis in the Washington, DC, office, Gerold Niggemann in New York, and Emilio Saiz in Miami.   The firm also elevated Emma Baratta, M Shams Billah, Jeffrey Margolin, and Carl Mills in New York

TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm, has made 13 global staff promotions, effective 1 January, 2021.Ajit Nedungadi has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of TA Associates, with Brian Conway continuing as Chairman, a role he has held since 2014.   “On behalf of TA’s Executive Committee, I am pleased to announce this natural progression of the leadership of TA Associates,” says Brian Conway, TA Associates’ Boston-based Chairman. “Ajit Nedungadi has led the continued successful evolution of TA’s investment strategy over the last several years. Looking forward, Ajit and I will continue to collaborate closely on building TA’s global

Hughes Hubbard & Reed has added Carlos Lobo as a partner, effective 1 January, in the firm’s Latin America group based in New York. Lobo’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity investments and capital markets. He has 25 years of experience representing clients in complex M&A transactions, tender offers, private equity investments and fund formation. He also advises issuers and underwriters in IPOs, follow-ons, issuance of debt instruments in the international capital markets. “Carlos has an impressive record handling large and complex cross-border transactions, involving private and public companies and private equity funds, and his significant experience will

Bernhard Capital Partners Management, a service and infrastructure-focused private equity management firm, has appointed Luther C “Luke” Kissam, IV, as a Partner.Kissam is an experienced investor in the transitional energy space and has two decades of experience in the operational and financial aspects of major global businesses. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a global company with leading positions in lithium and a nearly USD16 billion market capitalisation. In this role, he spearheaded Ablemarle’s USD6.2 billion acquisition of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. in 2014, and helped transform Albemarle into a global leader in the fast-growth

Private equity firm WestBridge has promoted three members of its team, with Edward Minton and James MacLeay both being elevated to the role of senior investment manager, and Rebecca Sinclair promoted to investment manager.The promotions follow a productive 2020 for WestBridge, despite the challenging backdrop. Having completed the MBO of Bespoke Health & Social Care during the Spring lockdown, WestBridge ended the year backing the £46.5m MBO of Eque2, its sixth investment from WestBridge II. Founding partner, Valerie Kendall, says: “We are delighted to recognise the valuable contribution of our three colleagues and reward their achievements.  Each of them has

Milbank has appointed Andrej Wolf as a partner in its Global Corporate Group in London, further expanding the firm’s international private equity and M&A capabilities.Wolf has particular expertise in advising some of the world’s most sophisticated organisations on private equity and related transactions. Across a variety of sectors and geographies, he has counselled a range of global private equity houses, financial sponsor clients and their portfolio companies on leveraged buyouts and acquisitions, growth capital and minority investments, secondaries and disposals, carve-out transactions, as well as complex cross-border mergers. He has advised major private equity players, including Accel-KKR, Apax Partners, EW