Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), a professional services firm, has appointed Mike Trenouth as a managing director for its expanding European private equity practice in London.   Trenouth’s (pictured) appointment comes against the backdrop of an increasingly complex and competitive deal environment in Europe, where there is rising demand for a differentiated approach to creating value both pre- and post-deal.   Trenouth will draw upon his 24 years’ experience in both due diligence and operational performance improvement to build on A&M’s through-the-cycle offering, allowing clients to better address a shifting and dynamic market in Europe.   Trenouth’s primary areas of focus

The Park Hill Group, a division of Blackstone, has appointed Pablo Calo as a managing principal in the firm’s secondary advisory business based in London.   This business delivers liquidity and capital solutions to private equity investors and managers.   Calo has spent the last 16 years dedicated to private equity, most recently as the head of European private equity secondaries at PineBridge Investments (formerly AIG Investments). Prior to this, Calo spent nine years at AIG Capital Partners, in both New York and Buenos Aires. At Park Hill, Calo will focus on providing secondary advisory services to clients across Europe.

International investment bank Altium has promoted Andy Clarke to director and Elin Sion to assistant director.   Clarke (pictured) joined Altium in 2009 from Grant Thornton, having previously worked at LDC and KPMG. He specialises in private equity transactions and general mergers and acquisitions (M&A).   Sion has been at Altium since 2011. She qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC and holds a Master’s degree in Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of Manchester. She has been involved in a number of private equity and trade transactions in the business and support services and energy waste and renewables

Holly Neavill and Louisa Watt have joined Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft’s financial restructuring department as partners.    They will be based in the firm’s London office.   Gregory Petrick (pictured), managing partner of the firm’s London office and co-chair of the financial restructuring department, says: “The European market continues to present its challenges, with creditors looking for practical and innovative solutions for cross-border restructuring. Holly and Louisa have proven track records. They have built strong and unique practices representing a range of institutions facilitating restructuring and trading transactions and are leading authorities in these areas. This is an exciting time

Playnation, the supplier of amusement and leisure machines backed by Palatine Private Equity, has appointed Pets at Home founder Anthony Preston as non-executive chairman.   The appointment comes after the Manchester-based private equity firm backed the management buyout of Playnation, formerly the amusement and leisure division of London-based Inspired Gaming, earlier this year.   Preston (pictured), who is part of Palatine’s executive advisory board, will work alongside Playnation’s chief executive Adam Hodges and the investment team at Palatine to help strengthen the company’s position in the amusement and leisure sector.   Playnation supplies amusement and leisure machinery to holiday parks,

Joseph W Bartlett has joined law firm McCarter & English as special counsel in the firm’s corporate, securities and financial institutions practice in New York.   A recognised pioneer of the national private equity and venture capital bar, Bartlett (pictured) contributed to the original models for private equity and fund of fund partnerships. He has served as president of the Boston Bar Association and as general counsel and undersecretary of the US Department of Commerce. Bartlett arrives from Sullivan & Worcester’s corporate department in New York.   Bartlett’s practice includes serving as counsel to asset managers, including those of major

Tailwater Capital, a newly formed Dallas-based private equity firm, has partnered with Landmark Partners to complete the secondary purchase of HM Capital’s legacy energy portfolio.   Jason Downie (pictured) and Edward Herring will lead a team dedicated to investing in the energy industry with a primary focus on investments within the midstream and upstream sectors.   Tailwater will manage a portfolio that includes BlackBrush Oil & Gas, TexStar Midstream Services and SunTerra Well Services. During their tenure with HM Capital, Downie and Herring were responsible for the sourcing of these investments as well as the oversight of each company’s performance