Global growth private equity firm TA Associates has appointed Dietrich Hauptmeier as a Senior Vice President in the firm’s London office. Hauptmeier will focus on growth equity investments, recapitalisations and management-led buyouts in Germany and other European markets. Hauptmeier joins TA from Palamon Capital Partners, where he served as an Associate Principal, originating, evaluating and executing investments, primarily in Germany, in the financial services, environmental services, healthcare, retail and education sectors. He previously served as Finance Director for DCisions, a start-up company providing data analytics to the retail investment industry. Prior to this, Hauptmeier was a Principal at Kohlberg Kravis

David Silver is to succeed John Fordham as Head of European Investment Banking (EUIB) at Baird, an employee-owned, international investment banking, private equity, wealth, and asset management firm. Fordham will transition to the newly created position of Chairman of Baird International.   Silver will oversee all of EUIB in addition to his current role leading the firm’s Business Services banking practice in Europe. Fordham will work across the firm, further developing the firm’s presence globally, extending Baird’s platform to additional international clients and exploring opportunities in new geographies across the globe. The leadership changes, which will take full effect January

Newly-launched, location-based mobile gaming start-up Red Robot Labs has raised USD8.5 million in funding led by Benchmark Capital. Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky will be joining the company’s board of directors.   Shasta Ventures and existing investors Rick Thompson, co-founder of Playdom, and Chamath Palihapitiya, former Facebook executive, also participated in the Series A funding round. The company will use the financing to accelerate studio growth, propel development of their R2 location gaming platform, build third party studio partnerships, and deliver the most sophisticated and engaging games for mobile devices. "Benchmark is focused on helping great entrepreneurs build successful companies," says Mitch

Kelso Place Asset Management LLP (Kelso Place), the special situations investor, has appointed Philip Dougall as Partner. The appointment takes Kelso Place’s London-based investment team to nine. Sion Kearsey, Managing Partner of Kelso Place, says: “Phil has a wealth of experience and knowledge of the turnaround landscape, which will be vital for us as we prepare for a period of increased deal flow. In particular, the experience he garnered from his time at Sun European Partners showcases his skills, which we are confident will be much in demand in the coming months. I am delighted that he has chosen to

First State Investments has appointed Philippe Taillardat, who will co-head Infrastructure Investment Management Europe together with Danny Latham and work alongside Niall Mills (Head of Infrastructure Asset Management) and Marcus Ayre (Head of Infrastructure Transactions).   This latest senior addition to the team comes as First State plans to open its first continental European office in Paris and the First State European Diversified Infrastructure Fund (EDIF) approaches €600m in terms of client commitments. Taillardat has 20 years of relevant experience in infrastructure and project finance, particularly in the energy sector. Since December 2010, he has been running his own consultancy

Split Rock Partners, a venture capital firm focused on software, Internet services, and healthcare has appointed Leo de Luna as a principal in its Menlo Park office.   De Luna will be identifying, evaluating and managing new later stage and secondary opportunities. He most recently served as a Vice President at Saints Capital, a firm specialising in secondary direct investments, where he sourced, executed and monitored various investments since 2005. De Luna’s prior experience includes early-stage investing at Split Rock Partner’s predecessor firm, St Paul Venture Capital, technology investment banking at Lehman Brothers, and corporate development at Advanced Micro Devices.

International law firm Dechert LLP announced today that David A Vaughan has returned to the firm as a partner in the Financial Services Group. Vaughan left Dechert in March 2009 to join the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management, where he served for the last two years as the senior private fund policy adviser on all aspects of legal and regulatory policy related to private funds. “We are pleased to have David back at Dechert,” says Joseph R Fleming, Co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Practice Group. “His insight into the SEC will be of great value to