Ogier London, in its role as long term BVI legal adviser to Touchstone Gold, has assisted with Touchstone’s acquisition of Atlantis Gold Mines.  The new business combination has resulted in the creation of a Colombia focused gold exploration and development company.   Ogier London acted for Touchstone on its 2011 AIM listing and has now assisted on its migration to Canada to facilitate the acquisition of Atlantis.    The Ogier team was led by London managing partner Simon Dinning and senior associate Wendy Walker and worked with UK counsel Fladgate and Canadian counsel Cassels Brock.   Dinning says: "We have

Private equity firm Avista Capital Partners has appointed Brian A Markison as a healthcare industry executive. Markison has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals sector, most recently as president and chief executive officer of Fougera Pharmaceuticals, a dermatology-focused pharmaceuticals company that was spun off from Nycomed in 2011 and sold to Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis, in July 2012. Thompson Dean, co-managing partner and chief executive officer of Avista, says: "We have known and worked with Brian for years, and we are delighted to have him join our team. The healthcare sector has been a core

Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, has expanded its New York City offices with the addition of several investment team members. Matt Witheiler (pictured), a principal with the firm previously based in Boston, has moved to New York joining general partner David Aronoff who established the firm’s New York City office earlier this year. Caitlin Strandberg, who previously worked in business development at New York City based start-ups LearnVest and Behance, has joined the firm’s New York office as an associate. “Over the past few years, our involvement with the New York start-up community has increased significantly, with

James Carnegie has been appointed as a senior adviser to Blackstone. Based in Sydney, Carnegie will focus primarily on the firm’s private equity activities in Australia. Carnegie was most recently a partner with Archer Capital, an Australian domestic private equity firms. Before that, his experience included working with Macquarie Capital in its principal investment area.   Michael Chae, senior managing director at Blackstone and head of private equity for the Asia Pacific region, says: "We are delighted that James has agreed to join us as a senior adviser. Australia is a strategic market for Blackstone, and we remain highly committed

Mid-market private equity firm LDC has appointed John Garner to head its operations in Yorkshire and the North East as it steps up its investment in the region. He will take over the role from John Swarbrick, who has led LDC in Yorkshire and North East over the past 12 years. Swarbrick will remain with LDC on a part-time basis until the end of 2013 to assist in a smooth transition. He will also remain as a non-executive director on several of LDC portfolio company boards.   Garner (pictured) qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in London, where he

Future Capital Partners, the GBP6bn alternative investment boutique, has appointed James Pargeter to its business development team as it gears up for a product push in the fourth quarter. Pargeter has responsibility for corporate financial planning on behalf of FCP’s clients. His remit includes a focus on working with and developing FCP’s network of accountants and corporate tax planners, through whom FCP’s range of investments are marketed. He will work within FCP’s 10-strong business development team, headed up by Piers Denne (pictured), head of sales.   The appointment is the second in recent months to FCP’s business development team, as

Signia Wealth has appointed Ana María Harrison as a managing director.  Harrison is assigned to Signia’s private equity division and will work alongside Spencer Moulton.   She will be joining Signia from UBS, where she was executive director in global wealth management private equity. She has been with the company since 2007 and was responsible for UK client distribution covering 175 client advisers, 580 clients and over USD1bn of commitments in 29 private equity feeder vehicles.   Prior to UBS, she was director and head of global aftersales product management for alternative investments at Citigroup Private Bank.  From 2001 to

Foresight Group has appointed Dan Wells as director, US solar. Based initially in the UK with the specialist infrastructure team, Wells will lead the development of Foresight’s solar business in the US, building on Foresight’s 100MW operating solar portfolio in Europe. Wells joins Foresight with 12 years’ experience in finance and investment, specialising in sustainability and clean energy infrastructure. Prior to Foresight he was based in Singapore, running the global corporate finance team at Sindicatum Sustainable Resources, where he helped raise and invest USD300m in clean energy over the course of five years. Jamie Richards, head of infrastructure at Foresight,

Rutland Partners, a turnaround and restructuring investor, has appointed James Barrington-Wells as investment executive. Barrington-Wells is a graduate of biological science from Edinburgh University who qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte in 2009 and subsequently worked in their audit and corporate finance divisions for three years. During this time he worked on a variety of buy-side and sell-side transactions in multiple sectors including consumer business, technology and manufacturing.   This appointment further develops the Rutland team which has included the recent recruitment of Michael Reynolds from Hawkpoint Partners in July. It brings Rutland’s investing team to a total of