Reed Smith has appointed Colin Baker as a partner in its Financial Industry Group, based in London.  Baker, who joins the firm from Goodwin Procter, brings a practice steeped in funds finance experience acting for fund borrowers and lenders. Baker has particular experience across a wide range of fund level finance, including equity bridging, subscription line financing, investment warehousing, portfolio and asset acquisition facilities, GP facilities and carry/co-investment facilities.  He also advises a number of financial institutions, asset managers and private equity houses on real estate and private equity financings.    “Our funds finance team is one of the pillars

Muzinich & Co has appointed Alok Wadhawan to head up a newly-created Aviation Finance business. Aviation Finance will be a part of Muzinich’s growth in offerings of alternative investments and private debt. “Aviation Finance seeks to offer investors the opportunity to access cash-yielding, fixed-income-type returns on a risk-adjusted basis with low volatility. It is our view that the asset class has shown resilience through market cycles and may be ideal for clients seeking capital preservation with low levels of correlation to other asset classes,” says Alok. “Muzinich provides a strong platform upon which to build a market-leading Aviation Finance proposition.”

UK private equity house Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has expanded its investment team with the appointment of David Nixon to help manage funds across the North East. Joining as Investment Manager to source and complete deals on behalf of Maven’s private equity funds, Nixon will also help manage the GBP27 million North East Development Capital Fund (NEDCF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the GBP20 million Finance Durham Fund, established by Durham County Council.   Based across Maven’s Newcastle and Durham offices, David will be responsible for new investments across the North East of England. Prior to Maven,

Sidley Austin has appointed Eleanor Shanks as a partner based in London. Shanks, who will be a member of Sidley’s global M&A and Private Equity practice, joins from Proskauer Rose LLP. “Eleanor is one of the most respected private equity lawyers in London and highly regarded for her work across the European transactional market,” says Tom Thesing, managing partner of Sidley’s London office and member of its Executive Committee. “She has also been recognised as one of the leading women private equity lawyers in Europe. Her arrival supports our strategy to continue diversifying our team and investing in key practices

UK financial services broker The Fiducia Group has launched Fiducia Corporate Finance which the company says will provide a bespoke corporate service for debt and equity fund raising for entrepreneurs and companies.  It will offer advice, specialising in: equity capital raising, debt capital raising, disposals, acquisitions, refinancing, restructuring and general corporate strategic advice.   Fiducia Corporate Finance will operate in the UK, and across European and global markets both for introductions and placements.   Fiducia Corporate Finance will be headed up by Laurence Goodman who has ambitious plans to develop and grow this sector for the group. Laurence is a

BGF, a UK and Irish investment company, has appointed Daina Spedding as an investor in its London office. Spedding joins from the investment team at Blue Coast Capital, where she sourced and executed investment opportunities in global consumer and digital companies. Previously, Spedding has worked in PwC’s transaction services team, specialising in company valuations and analysis.   Spedding’s new role at BGF will cover all aspects of the investment process, from initial meeting with business owners considering funding, to due diligence and actively working alongside portfolio companies after completion.   Commenting on her appointment, Spedding says: “BGF has been impressively active

Law firm Paul Hastings has appointed Charles Cardon, a corporate partner with a focus on takeovers, M&A, private equity, and capital markets transactions, to the firm’s team in Paris. “We’re meeting our clients’ demand for deeper European capabilities in M&A, private equity and finance,” says Seth Zachary, chair of Paul Hastings. “Charles brings extensive, valuable experience in these areas and is a welcome addition to the Paris office as we continue to grow.”   “Paul Hastings’ strong growth story and outstanding track record of impressive deals in Europe was very attractive to me,” says Cardon, who joins Paul Hastings from Dechert.

Frank Herzog has joined EQT portfolio company VFS Global as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective 1 October 2019. Herzog will lead the overall Finance function and will also be responsible for M&A, Legal, Internal Audit, and Procurement functions of VFS Global. He is a member of the Executive Board of the company and contributes to the overall strategic direction of VFS Global. He reports to Zubin Karkaria, Chief Executive Officer, VFS Global.   Herzog joins VFS Global with 25 years of broad experience in leadership roles in Finance, Banking, and general management. Most recently, Frank worked from 2012 to 2018 for

Eisner has continued the expansion of its New York office with the appointment of Kate F Buckley as a partner. Buckley will head the firm’s corporate practice in New York. “This is an important step forward for our firm and our growing New York office,” says Eisner chair Michael Eisner. “Kate is incredibly talented and will add great value to clients across the firm. Along with her leadership abilities, she adds considerable experience and depth to our corporate talent, and her sophisticated transactional practice is a great complement to our existing abilities.”   Buckley represents and has represented private equity funds and portfolio