People
Amit Jain has rejoined Growth equity private equity firm TA Associates as a Vice President and member of the North America Technology Group in the firm’s Menlo Park office.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Amit back to TA,” says Jennifer M Mulloy, Managing Director at TA Associates and head of TA’s Menlo Park office. “Having been an integral part of the TA team for several years as an Associate, Amit has demonstrated his ability to add value to TA’s growth private equity investment process, particularly in sourcing and analysing new investment opportunities.”
Added Brian J Conway, Chairman and
East Coast Concepts, a Manchester-based restaurant and bar group, has appointed Simon Kaye as managing director as it targets growth across the UK.
The Group, which was backed by mid-market private equity firm NorthEdge Capital in 2016, operates two restaurant-bar brands – Neighbourhood and Victors. Neighbourhood is inspired by New York’s dining district and operates three city centre locations in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds. Victors offers an elegant Hamptons-inspired dining concept, with three locations in Oxford, Hale and Alderley Edge.
Kaye has a wealth of experience in the hospitality sector and will be responsible for accelerating growth of the
Independent fund and corporate services provider, the Aztec Group, has added Pete Blackburn and Farhan Ahmed to its real assets senior leadership team in Luxembourg.
Previously based in the Group’s Jersey office, Blackburn has been with the Group for over 10 years and has held numerous positions in relationship management and financial reporting, gaining exposure to a wide range of asset classes and structures, including mezzanine, mid-market buyout funds and fund of funds. He was promoted to Associate Director in 2013.
In his new role, Blackburn will have overall responsibility for a portfolio of real estate and infrastructure clients,
Following a record year of investment and fundraising activity in 2018, Churchill Asset Management (Churchill), a majority-owned affiliate of Nuveen focussed on originating, underwriting and managing middle market senior loan investments, has promoted Mat Linett, Managing Director, from Deputy Head of Underwriting and Portfolio Management to Head of Underwriting, and Eric Wieczorek to Managing Director, Underwriting and Portfolio Management.
Linett will be responsible for overseeing all underwriting activities at Churchill, working closely with George Kurteson, Head of Portfolio Management. Linett joined the company in April 2015 and has been integral in leading numerous investments, building out the firm’s risk management
BGF has appointed Sophie Brand as an investor in its Leeds office. Brand joins from Deloitte, where she spent nearly eight years working across the firm’s Leeds and London offices.
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in Deloitte’s audit practice, Brand has spent the past four years working in the M&A team gaining particular experience of transactions in retail and consumer markets.
Brand’s role at BGF will involve all aspects of the investment process from meeting business owners when they’re first considering funding to due diligence and actively working alongside a number of portfolio companies after completion.
BGF’s
Tax specialist William Jean-Baptiste has joined Ogier’s team in Luxembourg as a tax partner.
Jean-Baptiste (pictured), who joins Ogier’s eight-strong partnership in Luxembourg, focuses on tax structuring of international investment transactions, investment funds and on-going tax management.
His experience covers acquisitions and holding structures for real estate, private equity and private capital investment, financing, mergers, acquisitions and reorganisations of financial institutions, securitisation and structured financial products.
Jean-Baptiste’s corporate and funds tax advisory practice is supplemented by experience in wealth planning and family office services for private clients in the management of their cross-border legal and tax planning needs.
Latham & Watkins has appointed Ivana K Rouse as a partner in the Corporate Department and a member of the Investment Funds Practice in the firm’s Houston office.
Rouse’s practice covers a broad range of private funds, including private equity-style energy, credit and mid-market funds, cryptocurrency funds and hedge funds.
“We are excited to welcome Ivana to the Corporate Department and to the firm. She has an excellent track record in the investment funds space and will be be an incredible anchor for the group here in Houston. Her sophisticated experience and legal skills will help clients take
Morrison & Foerster has appointed Christopher Kandel as a partner in the firm’s Finance practice in London.
Kandel brings to the firm a wealth of experience in leveraged finance and complex international acquisition finance, and restructuring transactions. He comes to Morrison & Foerster from Latham & Watkins, where he served as co-chair of the global banking practice.
Kandel is the third partner to join the firm’s London Finance Department in less than a year, following the noteworthy additions of Caroline Jury, who joined from Clifford Chance, and Benoit Lavigne, who joined from Ropes & Gray, as the firm accelerates
Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, has hired Joe McDonnell as head of portfolio solutions (EMEA).
McDonnell will be part of the quantitative and multi-asset class investments team at Neuberger Berman, reporting to co-heads Erik Knutzen and Doug Kramer.
In this newly-created role, McDonnell will be responsible for designing and overseeing multi-asset mandates and engaging with strategic partners. He will leverage the broader Neuberger Berman platform to identify customised quantitative solutions and to help construct, oversee and implement portfolios to meet specific client objectives.
McDonnell joins from Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he spent ten years
European impact investment bank ClearlySo has appointed Gillian Wilmot as chairman.
Wilmot has a strong background in the consumer sector before she developed a wide range of corporate, non-profit and government experience in a variety of fields. She is also an experienced mentor and has helped coach many high growth businesses and their executive teams.
Wilmot joins two other recent board additions – Tracy Lewis and Jospeh Krant.
Lewis is chairman of Inspired Thinking Group, and a non-executive director of Staffline Group Plc and Bluebella Lingerie, following a successful career as an entrepreneur in the retail sector. Krant,
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
