Bedell Cristin has appointed Guy Westmacott as a Partner two years after he joined the firm. A specialist in corporate and commercial matters, with particular expertise in mergers and acquisitions, Guy works on a variety of international transactions and also advises on related regulatory aspects including competition and financial services.   Westmacott, who has worked previously in London at Eversheds and Vinson & Elkins and in the United Arab Emirates while in-house with Mubadala Investment Company, has 16 years’ experience in the legal sector. He joined Bedell Cristin in 2016 and earlier this year was promoted to Managing Associate.  

Independent venture capital firm Truffle Capital, which focuses on creating and financing start-ups with disruptive technologies in life sciences and information technology, has appointed Maud Lazare as the company’s Director of Investor Relations. Under the supervision of Truffle Capital’s three existing partners Patrick Kron, Philippe Pouletty and Bernard-Louis Roques, Lazare will also handle the company’s communication and marketing.   Lazare, who graduated from Paris Dauphine University with a Master’s degree in Scientific Management Methods, and from Paris VI University, with a Master’s degree in Mathematics, began her career as a trader in the Equity Derivatives department of BNP Paribas.  

Evercore has appointed Eduard Kostadinov as a Senior Managing Director in its Advisory practice based in Frankfurt.    Kostadinov will focus on advising clients on M&A and capital-raising assignments in the Industrials sector across Europe. Kostadinov will also take on the leadership of Evercore’s German Advisory business, working in close partnership with Walter Kuna who will become Chairman of Evercore Germany.    Kostadinov was most recently a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where he was Co-Head General Industrials EMEA, with a particular focus on the Automotive industry. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2011, Kostadinov was Head of Automotive EMEA at

Independent investment consultancy bfinance has appointed Sweta Chattopadhyay as Director – Private Markets. Heading the private equity advisory practice at bfinance, she brings with her over a decade’s experience investing in private equity funds and in direct/co-investments globally. With a mandate to help grow and evolve bfinance’s Private Markets team, Chattopadhyay’s appointment marks a significant step in the development of the consultancy’s Private Markets advisory capability. Chattopadhyay’s responsibilities will include manager search and selection, directs/co-investments advisory, portfolio strategy and design, and monitoring solutions, with an overarching focus on furthering bfinance’s ability to provide richer, broader implementation support to investors.  

Private equity firm Earth Capital Partners (EC) has appointed Edward Collins as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with immediate effect. Collins (pictured), is a former Managing Director of Hanson Asset Management, an independent investment management and advisory firm, and CIO of Hanson Family Holdings. Most recently, he was the CIO of Aldbourne Investment Management and led the restructuring of the Oracle Capital Group from which Aldbourne Investment Management emerged. He has more than 16 years’ experience of running asset management companies and of multi-asset investing.   EC is a global fund management group focused exclusively on sustainable private equity and manages

Vistra, a global fund administration, trusts and corporate services provider, has appointed Scott Kraemer as Managing Director, Alternative Investments in North America, effective immediately. In this role, Kraemer is responsible for the development and execution of the AI strategy for North America, including operations, key account management, strategic partnerships and resource allocation across Vistra’s offices in the region. He will be based in New York, reporting to Onno Bouwmeister, Vistra’s Group Managing Director of Alternative Investments.
 
   With over 25 years of professional experience in financial services, Kraemer has held senior roles in operations, accounting, technology and risk at various

Offshore law firm Appleby has appointed James Fox as Partner in the corporate team in the Group’s Jersey office. Fox, who is a Jersey advocate, has over 18 years’ experience as a transactional corporate and commercial lawyer. He started his career at Shepherd and Wedderburn, then Dundas & Wilson in the UK, before working at another offshore law firm in Jersey for 11 years. Fox has detailed knowledge of Jersey’s legal and regulatory framework and is an established practitioner in the funds and M&A environment. He has also acted for a large number of listed companies in relation to flotations,