BlueMountain Capital Management, a private diversified alternative asset management firm with USD22 billion in assets under management, has appointed Brandon Cahill, Sarah Dahan, and Josh Drazen as Partners of the firm, effective 1 January, 2018.  Brandon Cahill joined BlueMountain in 2004. Since 2010 he has been the primary portfolio manager investing in CLO tranches, and also oversees BlueMountain’s synthetic CDO and mortgage strategies. Mr. Cahill is also involved in BlueMountain’s CLO management platform and BlueMountain Fuji, focusing on the capital markets and structuring aspect of the business. Prior to joining BlueMountain, he was an Analyst in Citigroup’s Global Project and Structured Trade Finance group. He attended the University of

Middle-market private equity firm Calera Capital has appointed Edward H Orzetti, former CEO of Keystone Automotive Operations and former CEO of Transtar, as an Operating Partner. Orzetti will assist Calera in connection with identifying, evaluating, and building attractive platform investments in the automotive aftermarket and other industrial sectors. Calera intends to commit USD40 to USD200 million of equity per investment in a range of transaction types which are primarily focused on family or founder-owned businesses. Transactions may also include recapitalisations of private and public companies, corporate divestitures, and growth equity investments.   Ethan Thurow, Managing Director at Calera, says: “We

Catapult Ventures has appointed Kevin D’Silva as a Venture Partner with its GM&C Life Sciences Fund. D’Silva, who becomes the Fund’s third Venture Partner, will assess investment opportunities and work with the Fund’s smaller investments to help companies successfully grow, with a particular focus on medical devices.   Speaking on the new appointment, Catapult CEO Nick Wright, says: “I am delighted to welcome Kevin to Catapult as a Venture Partner specialising in medical devices and related technologies. Kevin has been known to Catapult for many years and was Chairman of two of Catapult’s recent life science exits. His skills and

San Francisco Equity Partners (SFEP), a private equity firm focused exclusively on expansion-stage companies in the consumer industry, has appointed Chris Sargent as a Vice President, based in San Francisco. Sargent will focus on sourcing new investment opportunities, due diligence, deal execution, and working with SFEP’s portfolio companies on operational initiatives.   Sargent joins SFEP from Sawaya Segalas, a New York based investment bank exclusively focused on the consumer products sector. Mr. Sargent had a 10-year career at Sawaya Segalas, where he focused on M&A transactions in the personal care, beauty, personal health and wellness, household products and food and

Law firm Howard Kennedy has strengthened its offering to clients following the recruitment of leading renewable energy expert and new partner Jonathan Cohen. Cohen joins the firm on 16 October from legal giant Eversheds Sutherland, where he led the distributed energy and energy storage groups.   Cohen is an industry recognised lawyer with vast experience in the renewables and energy sectors. He has worked on and led many high-profile transactions in the energy sector both in the UK and internationally and across all clean technologies, including offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, CHP, district heating, geothermal and energy storage. He

The Hong Kong office of international law firm, Maples and Calder, continues to expand its service offering in Asia with the recent recruitment of six experienced individuals. The recruitment of Everton Robertson, Stacey Yuan, David Wang, Jaron Jiao and Sarena Gong brings an unrivalled range of expertise and reinforces Maples and Calder’s position as a premier service provider in the region.   Everton, who returns to the firm’s Hong Kong office, is recognised by his peers and respected industry directories and journals. He has extensive experience and expertise in finance and private equity law, advising major Asian corporations, financial institutions

Global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has appointed Ben Narasin as a Venture Partner. Narasin, a prolific entrepreneur and highly regarded early-stage investor, brings more than three decades of company-building expertise to NEA’s technology practice. He has focused on emerging technologies and new markets throughout his investment career, with a portfolio comprising key early successes in some of today’s fastest growing sectors, such as fintech and connected devices.   “It has been our good fortune to collaborate with Ben on numerous investments, such as Branch Metrics, Enigma and Transfix,” says Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner, NEA. “He is

KAP Group, an firm recognised for successfully positioning private equity managers to attract and retain institutional capital, has appointed Jessica Hacker as a project manager. Previously with global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, Hacker served in several roles, most recently as associate of fundraising & investor relations, creating marketing collateral and diligence materials to support fundraising efforts for the firm’s flagship growth fund and two companion funds representing more than USD15 billion in institutional capital. Hacker also spent six years as senior information specialist, providing strategic market research services and macroeconomic insights to the firm’s investment professionals.   “We are

Independent fund and corporate services provider, the Aztec Group, has appointed private equity specialist Dean Tower as Associate Director of its UK operations. Based in Southampton, Tower will take on relationship management responsibilities for the delivery of fund services to a portfolio of UK-domiciled private equity funds. He will also play an integral role in both business development and strategic initiatives designed to grow and strengthen the Group’s onshore UK operations.   Formed in Jersey in 2001, the Aztec Group has had a presence in the UK since 2007, when it first opened an office in London. Three years later,