SpeakersThe CEE Private Equity 2010 Advisory Board Whose Dedication is Critical to Ensuring High-level Programme Content: |
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Garret Byrne Garret Byrne is Service Line Leader for Transactions Support Services in Central Europe. He is a Partner in the Deloitte Central Europe regional Financial Advisory Services practice. Garret is based in Prague and is a due diligence specialist. Garret has co-ordinated projects on a wide variety of targets for strategic and financial investors, including software companies, system integrators, internet service providers, telecommunication companies, airlines and manufacturing companies. Some of the target companies where he has led due diligence teams in recent years include: Ceske Radiokomunikace, Cesky Telecom, GTS, North Moravian Water & Sewage Company, Prague Water, PREmont and Unipetrol. Amongst strategic investors, his clients in recent years included SITA, Fabricom, HVB, Rocco Forte and Tarmac. Garret heads up Deloitte's private equity desk for Central Europe and has a keen understanding of how the due diligence needs of private equity firms differ from those of strategic investors. Amongst others, he has worked with the following Private Equity funds in recent years: Advent, Argus, Bancroft, Deutsche Bank AG London, Genesis Capital, GMT Communications, Lehman Bros, JP Morgan Capital Partners, Raiffeisen Private Equity Management, Spectrum and Winslow Partners. Garret also has significant experience in corporate finance advisory and recently led a team which raised equity and debt financing for Ceska Lekarna, a group of 33 pharmacies. Garret is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the University College Dublin with an economics degree. |
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Brian Wardrop Brian has been originating, executing, monitoring and exiting private equity investments in Central and Eastern Europe since 1997. Mr. Wardrop is a Managing Partner of Arx Equity Partners (“Arx”). Arx is a Central and Eastern European focused private equity firm targeting lower middle market companies, which are typically valued between €10 million and € 50 million. Arx operates from offices in Bucharest, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw. Mr. Wardrop has led Arx portfolio investments in Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia. Prior to joining Arx, Mr. Wardrop was an Associate and later Principal and head of the Prague office with Baring Communications Equity (Emerging Europe). During his tenure at Baring Communications Equity, Mr. Wardrop played key roles in several telecommunications and media sector investments throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Mr. Wardrop holds a Master’s degree in International Business from Boston University and a Bachelor’s degree from Bishop’s University. |
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Richard Seewald Partner, Investments. Richard has been originating, analyzing, structuring, negotiating and executing private equity investments in the Central European region since 1999. He has been involved in the region since 1990 and prior to joining ALPHA Associates in 2005 was a partner at Benson Oak, a Central European investment banking/private equity group, where he focused on growth capital and buyout opportunities. He participated in investment transactions in the banking sector, TMT sectors, automotive industry and in the retail sector. Earlier in his career, Richard was an associate at CMS Cameron McKenna, a London based international law firm, where he advised on privatizations, mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions while based in the Prague offices. Richard holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, a Doctorate in Law from the New York Law School and a B.A., Business, from Pace University. |
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Alessandra Pasian Alessandra Pasian is a Senior Banker within the Equity Funds Team at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). With more than twenty years of banking experience, she has previously worked for two large international banks and now represents EBRD in a number of private equity funds in which the Bank invested. Alessandra has worked extensively in Eastern Europe through her involvement with a number of debt and equity projects in which EBRD was either the largest single investor, or one of the largest. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Siena and a Master in Finance from IFAF Business School (Milan). |
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Chris Rose Christopher A. Rose is a partner at international law firm, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey and oversees the firm’s European private equity practice. He has a broad range of experience in structuring, negotiating and documenting private equity investments and exits, as well as mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. He also regularly counsels on the formation of private equity funds. Mr. Rose's industry experience includes telecommunications, retail, energy, fast-moving consumer goods, manufacturing and real estate. He is listed as a leader in the field of private equity in Russia by Chambers Europe 2008. He is also included in the most recent edition of the Guide to the World's Leading Private Equity Lawyers. |
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Top Speakers Include: |
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Alexander Abolmasov Alexander as a director is responsible for deal origination, execution and portfolio company development. Prior to joining NRG Alexander was a Corporate Finance Director of Arbat Capital, investment company with over US$ 700 mln under management. Before that Alexander worked for Zindel Investment Partners as a director responsible for deal origination, execution and portfolio company development. Earlier he worked for an investment banking boutique “Russian Investors”, where he managed M&A transactions in Oil&Gas, Utilities, Retail, Forestry and other sectors with total deals value over $500m. Also Alexander ran a successful leasing company as an executive director. |
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David Atterbury David Atterbury joined HarbourVest's London-based subsidiary in 2004 to focus on European secondary partnership investments and became a principal in 2008. David has led a range of European secondary transactions and currently serves on the advisory boards of funds managed by ABÉNEX Capital, Clyde Blowers Capital, Ibersuizas Capital Partners, Paragon Secondary Partners, and Vision Capital Limited. |
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Andrew Baird Andrew is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer; he joined Chayton Capital from Goldman Sachs where he was a Managing Director. Most recently he was Deputy Head of European Research. He also held senior management roles in Asia for both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. While in Hong Kong, Andrew was responsible for various emerging markets real estate activities including public securities analysis. He began his career in the UK Foreign Service and was stationed in Turkey and Cyprus for many years. Andrew received a First Class Honours BA from Oxford University. |
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Thierry Baudon Thierry is a founding Partner of Mid Europa Partners and chairs the Investment and Management Committees of the firm. Thierry has led the Mid Europa team since its inception in 1999. Previously, he headed the International Finance Division of the SUEZ Group and held senior positions with the EBRD and the World Bank/IFC Group. Thierry received a M.Sc. degree in Engineering from the Paris Institute of Technology (AgroParisTech), an A.M.P. from INSEAD and an M.A. in Economics & Finance from the Paris-Sorbonne University. Thierry is based in our London office. Thierry has been heavily involved in the sourcing, evaluation, monitoring and exit of most Fund I investments, and led the exits from Orange Slovensko, TIW Inc. (MobiFon/Connex and Oskar) and Pilkington. He serves or has served on the Boards of Orange Slovensko, TIW Inc, Telemach, Aster, Calucem, SBB, the Lux Med Group, Orange Austria, Falcon, Invitel and Energy21. |
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Erik Berglöf Prior to joining the EBRD, Erik Berglöf (PhD, Stockholm School of Economics, 1991) held the position of Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. He was previously Assistant Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and has held visiting positions at Harvard, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a widely published and internationally respected specialist in the field of transition economics. His focus has been on policy-related issues in transition economies and he has regularly provided advice to national governments and international institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Erik Berglöf was the founder and President of the Centre for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR) in Moscow, Programme Director at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and Board Member and Research Fellow of the European Corporate Governance Institute. In January 2006, Erik Berglöf took up his current position of Chief Economist and Special Adviser to the President at the EBRD. |
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Isabelle Boujna Isabelle is a Principal in the Quilvest Private Equity team. She leads the due diligence efforts on funds investments in Europe, including Central & Eastern Europe and Russia, and Africa. |
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Chris Buckle Chris is a seasoned financial professional with more than 14 years experience in providing structured finance to companies in both Western and Central & Eastern Europe. Since the end of 2005 Chris has been a partner at Mezzanine Management Central Europe, the first dedicated mezzanine fund manager for Central and Eastern Europe. It manages two funds: Accession Mezzanine Capital I of EUR 115 million and Accession Mezzanine Capital II at EUR 261 million. Between 2000 and 2005 Chris was head of Acquisition Finance for Central and Eastern Europe at Erste Bank where he was a pioneer in the region’s fledgling acquisition finance market. Before joining Erste Bank in 1997, he was Investment Manager at HSBC Ventures, a private equity operation focusing on small buy-outs in the UK. Chris is British and lives in Vienna. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Loughborough University and a Diploma in Marketing. |
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Richard Clegg Richard Clegg is the Managing Partner of the Sofia office of Wolf Theiss. His practice includes all areas of corporate M&A and banking and finance. Richard mainly advises on cross-border investments, including international market-entry and investment in Asia and EMEA for Eastern European groups and businesses. He has advised either the investors, sellers or banks on most of the largest recent corporate and financing transactions in Bulgaria. Richard was General Counsel and Group Investment Director of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company under Advent International's ownership. He was educated at the Manchester Grammar School, University College London, and INSEAD. |
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Tim Creed Professional background Prior to joining Adveq in 2004, Tim worked as a project manager at Aon in London, UK, having previously spent five years at Accenture in Strategy Consulting and Operations Consulting where he worked mostly with financial services companies across Europe. Tim started his career as a research chemist at Astra Zeneca, also in the UK. From 2002 to 2007 Tim held a part time position as an Executive Public Member of Network Rail in the UK. Education |
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Tomasz Czechowicz A graduate of Wroclaw University of Technology, Warsaw School of Economics and Executive MBA at the University of Minnesota. In the years 1990-1998, co-founder and CEO of JTT Computer SA, which he built into leading Central European PC-assembly and distribution operations with revenues of over US$100 mln. Since May 1998, Founder and CEO of MCI Group. After 2001 IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange MCI’s investment portfolio and funds under management grew from US$8 mln to more than US$100 mln.MCI Group specializes in alternative asset management with focus on private equity investments across Central Europe in TMT, Financial Services, Healthcare and Lifescience/Biotechnology sector. With 35 investments, 13 exits and 4 highly successful IPO’s MCI Group became the leading Central European Private Equity group managing 4 investment funds:
-MCI.EuroVentures 1.0 (growth capital), -MCI.BioVentures 1.0 (early stage capital), -Helix Ventures Partners (early stage capital). Tomasz Czechowicz is laureate of numerous prestigious awards:
-Already in 2001, the World Economic Forum awarded Tomasz Czechowicz the title of Global Leader for Tomorrow for his exceptional sense of the market, professionalism, vision and business efficacy. -TOP-10 most influential people in the European Internet by European Edition of Business Week in 2000. Tomasz Czechowicz, Managing Partner of MCI Management SA has been consistently accomplishing his self-designated goals and priorities aimed at increasing value of MCI Group and building strong and recognizable brand in Central Europe.He is an active mountaineer , professional skier and regular long-distance runner. |
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Lee Davis Lee Davisis a Co-Founder and CEO of NESsT (www.nesst.org ), an international nonprofit organization dedicated to solving critical social problems in emerging market countries. The NESsT Venture Fund is the first venture philanthropy fund to support social enterprises (i.e., for-profit businesses owned and operated by nonprofit organizations) in CEE in an effort to increase their long-term financial sustainability and social impact. NESsT also operates the Private Equity Shares program to make philanthropic giving more effective and efficient for private equity firms investing in CEE (www.privateequityshares.org). NESsT was a recipient of the prestigious Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2004. Mr. Davis holds an MA from the Johns Hopkins University, and a BA from Connecticut College; and was a recipient of the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Foundation fellowship in 1988. He was born in New York and currently lives in California while also dividing time between NESsT’s regional offices in Europe and South America. |
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Jan Dewijngaert Jan Dewijngaert (°1959) is Director of Buyouts & Growth Central Europe & Russia at Gimv. He is also Managing Director of Eagle Venture Partners and Gimv Czech Partners. He is a member of the Investment Committee of various funds and director of various companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Jan Dewijngaert studied Civil Engineering and Industrial Policy at the KU Leuven. Before joining Gimv in 1989, he worked for 5 years for KBC Bank in Brussels, Bremen and New York. |
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Saki Georgiadis Saki is responsible for the analysis, due diligence and monitoring of funds and direct co-investments in the emerging markets, including Central and Eastern Europe. Saki also coordinates and oversees Hermes GPE's asset allocation and strategy research.
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Sean Glodek Sean is based in the Warsaw office of Darby Private Equity, currently investing a €250 million mezzanine fund dedicated to CEE. Prior to Darby, Sean was a Vice President in the Global M&A group at Lehman Brothers in New York. Before Lehman, he was part of the M&A groups at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. Sean was also an investment professional at private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Ameriquest Capital. In the Internet days, he co-founded Surplex AG, a B2B startup based in Germany. Sean holds BA with Honors in Economics from Stanford University and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is fluent in English, Polish and German with a good knowledge of Russian. |
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Ulrich Grabenwarter Uli Grabenwarter is Head, Equity Fund Investments at the European Investment Fund (EIF), one of the largest pan-European investors in Venture Capital and Private Equity funds. EIF has EUR 7bn under management and commitments to more than 280 funds. Prior to EIF, Uli worked for several years at the European Investment Bank in the Directorate for Financing Operations executing structured finance operations in the corporate and financial sector and private equity fund investments. He started his career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the Audit and later Finance Consulting Department, specialising in derivatives for investment and risk management purposes including their use in hedge funds. Uli is author of the book “Exposed to the J-Curve: Understanding and Managing Private Equity Fund Investments” (Euromoney 2005) and numerous articles on the private equity and venture capital industry. Uli holds a Masters degree in Business and Economics from the University of Graz. |
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Stephan Grillmaier Stephan Grillmaier joined MVision in 2007. He is a highly experienced private equity investment professional with a strong background in private equity and alternative assets investing. At MVision Stephan manages a number of the firm’s global fundraisings as well as maintaining relationships with general partners and limited partners in Europe, the US, and Asia. Previously Stephan was a Director at Horizon21 Private Equity, a dedicated manager of Swiss Re’s alternative assets in Pfaeffikon, Switzerland. Prior to joining Horizon21, Stephan was a Vice President and Head of Europe in Swiss Re’s private equity fund of funds team in Zurich. In his roles at Swiss Re and Horizon21, Stephan led numerous fund investments in Europe as well as Asia/Pacific, and served on the advisory board of a number of private equity funds. During his tenure with Swiss Re and Horizon21 Stephan was also closely involved in their fundraising activities. Prior to joining Swiss Re’s private equity fund of funds team, Stephan was a Senior Investment Professional with VCM Capital Management in Munich, Germany. Stephan has a BA degree in International Relations from Webster University St. Louis, USA, and a M.Litt. degree in Management, Economics, and Politics from University of St. Andrews in Scotland. |
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Joanna James Joanna James is Co-Head of Advent's investment activities in Central and Eastern Europe. She has over 25 years of private equity experience, with a strong focus on buyouts and growth equity investments. Prior to joining Advent, Joanna worked for Kleinwort Benson Development Capital, where she was responsible for investments in the U.K. and also developed the firm's private equity activity in Spain. She began her career with 3i, the U.K.'s largest venture capital firm. |
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Oleg Jelezko Oleg Jelezko is responsible for investment strategy and all aspects of operations for the Da Vinci Capital Group companies. Oleg has 17 years of investment management, banking and management consulting experience in the UK, Russia and other emerging markets. Prior to joining Da Vinci Capital, Oleg was a Managing Director at Renaissance Capital, Moscow, as Head of the Equity Structured Products Group, where he built a leading alternative investment franchise in the CIS market with 40 people in several teams. His teams were responsible for significant AUM and 30 funds and investment products. Prior to Renaissance, Oleg was a director for Equity Sales and Trading in emerging markets at Credit Suisse First Boston in London. From 1992 to 1998, Oleg worked as a consultant at Andersen Consulting and McKinsey & Co in the UK, the Czech Republic and Russia. Oleg’s experience includes investment management, investment structuring, principal investment, and M&A deals in Russia, Europe and South Africa. He was involved in private equity activities, development of equity-linked products, corporate strategy and operational management. |
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Alexander Kondrashov Alexander Kondrashov is Managing director of Rusnano, one of the largest new technology fund in Russia. Rusnano assets exceed E3,5 bln. Alexander manages project portfolio valued over 500 mln euro. Main projects lay in the area of new materials, cleantech, energy efficiency, machinery/devices, biotech/pharmacy and electronics. In Rusnano Alexander completed a number of investments. He was first to close a deal with foreign public company (IBt Bebig, September 2008) and first to close a deal with foreign private company (Galileo Vacuum Systems, May 2009). Alexander pays a lot of attention to new technologies in energy approaching the industry widely from power electronic devices to energy station equipment. Prior to joining Rusnano Alexander was Chairman and main shareholder of Leader Invest – the leading investment group in Belarus. He succeeded to close the largest M&A deal on Belarus market. Also Alexander is co-owner of KNG Development – Russian regional real estate company. He stays in this business since 2007. Before that Alexander was managing director in Kuna Group, Russian family office fund. On that position Alexander received vast experience in many industries including commercial banking, M&A, alcohol & beverage, building materials, land development, mining and jewelry. Alexander graduated from economic faculty of Moscow State University. He holds also MBA degree of MSU Graduate business school. |
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Robert Luke Robert Luke is one of the Founders of GED. He is Managing Director of GED Capital Development, and responsible for all GED Eastern Fund operations in South Eastern Europe. He started in Private Equity in 3i’s in London, in the 70’s. Then he became General Manager of Capital Partners International, a German family business. In 1981, he moved to Spain as Senior Consulting Manager at KPMG. Later on, he was Executive Director of the Venture Capital Fund “Euroventures” Spain, and was one of the key members of the team which successfully launched“Telepizza” into the Spanish stock market. He is also a principal promoter and President of the SE Europe Private Equity Association. He is a holder of a Law degree from the University of Exeter, and has a MBA from Harvard Business School |
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Daniel Lynch Daniel is Managing Partner, CIO of 3TS Capital Partners and is based in the firm’s Prague office. As Chief Investment Officer he co-leads 3TS and is primarily responsible for investment management. As one of the investment partners he also originates, executes and manages direct investments. He joined 3TS in September 2000 and has over 18 years’ direct investment experience in private equity and venture capital, with extensive work and transaction experience in the Fund’s target region. Prior to joining 3TS, Daniel was Investment Director of the AIG New Europe Fund, based in Warsaw, and was in charge of their Telecoms and Technology related business. Daniel has a B.A. in Finance from Washington State University and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley |
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Ryan McGovern Ryan T. McGovern joined Nomura in February 2005 to focus on the origination, execution and monitoring of mezzanine and other subordinated debt investments as one of the founding members of the Nomura-sponsored European mezzanine fund. As an Investment Director at Nomura Mezzanine, Ryan has been involved in making numerous second lien, mezzanine and PIK investments in companies across Europe and for monitoring those investments for the fund. Ryan joined Nomura from AIG-MezzVest where he also focused on mezzanine investments in European leveraged finance transactions. Prior to AIG-MezzVest, Ryan worked in corporate finance and M&A advisory in Europe and in the United States. Ryan has a BA from Vanderbilt University and did his MBA at HEC Paris and London Business School. |
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Piotr Nocen Piotr Noceń is a Managing Partner focused on investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. He is based in Warsaw, Poland. Resource Partners is a newly established private equity group with focus on investments in the prospective small and medium-sized enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe. The group puts transaction focus on growth and buyout financing of EBITDA positive companies, with strong market position and proven strategy and business model, primarily in Consumer sectors. Mr. Noceń co-founded Resource Partners after leaving The Carlyle Group in 2008. Previously, he was associated with 3TS Capital Partners (2001-2007), where he was an Investment Director and Partner. Prior to 3TS Capital Partners, from 1999 to 2000, Mr. Noceń was an Executive in PricewaterhouseCoopers Financial Advisory Services department in Warsaw, where he was part of the Central European TMT team focusing on M&A lead advisory projects. From 1997 to 1999 he was a Junior Equity Analyst at Deutsche Bank Research (formerly Deutsche Morgan Grenfell). Mr. Noceń earned his M.Sc. in finance and banking from the Warsaw School of Economics (Poland) and has also completed post-graduate studies in international economics at the same University. He is also a CFA charterholder. |
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Barbara Nowakowska Barbara Nowakowska is the Executive Director of the Polish Private Equity Association (PPEA). The Polish Private Equity Association was established in 2002. Its mission is to promote and develop the private equity/venture capital industry in Poland and to represent the interests of the Polish private equity community in Poland and abroad. Prior to joining PPEA in 2003, Barbara Nowakowska served as a board member of an independent Polish telecom operator, El-Net S.A, and as restructuring director in an industrial conglomerate, Elektrim S.A. Her professional background includes five years with the largest Polish private equity fund manager, Enterprise Investors, and two years with the Ministry of Privatisation. Barbara Nowakowska holds an MA in economics |
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Henry Owainati Henry co-heads private equity for Bank Gutmann. His alternative investments team manages 48 primary partnership interests, secondaries, and co-investments in buyouts, growth capital and special situations. He has experience in principal investing, due diligence of partnerships and active portfolio monitoring, with additional expertise in emerging markets.” |
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Scott Penwell Scott joined Parish Capital in August 2006. As a Director, he is responsible for overseeing the investment team’s activities. This covers the sourcing of investments, the investment pipeline and due diligence processes, and the monitoring of existing investments and their underlying companies. Prior to Parish Capital, Mr. Penwell was a Vice President at BancBoston Capital in London, where he was responsible for originating, executing and managing direct and secondary investments. Mr. Penwell has diverse experience across multiple regions, including the U.K., Eastern Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. He frequently served as a Board director or observer and has overseen three initial public offerings and eight sales to trade or financial buyers. Prior to joining BancBoston Capital, Mr. Penwell was an investment banker for Robertson Stephens in San Francisco covering the internet infrastructure and business services sectors. Mr. Penwell has a BBA from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management |
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Roger Pim Roger Pim is a Partner at SL Capital Partners where he is responsible for origination, screening, evaluation and disposition of private equity investments. He currently sits on a number of European private equity fund advisory boards and has responsibility for a portfolio of direct co-investments. SL Capital Partners LLP (formerly Standard Life Investments (Private Equity) Limited) manages in excess €6.3 billion of capital on behalf of 150 clients worldwide. Roger joined Standard Life Investments in 2002, prior to which he worked in M&A and Corporate Finance at Goldman Sachs International in London and New York where he focused on the private equity industry. Roger has an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh. |
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Claire Scott-Priestley Claire is a member of Squire Sanders' CEE private equity team and carries out transactions with Squire Sanders offices across the region. Claire has broad experience in the corporate and finance aspects of private equity transactions, acting for private equity funds, family fundsand portfolio companies. She has substantial experience in CEE financing transactions and has represented clients, acting as lender and borrower, in relation to a variety of senior and mezzanine facilities. Claire joined Squire Sanders in 2001 after qualifying and practising as a solicitor with Paisner & Co (now Berwin Leighton Paisner) in the City of London. She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Bristol and a Diploma in Legal Practice from Nottingham Law School.
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Witold Radwanski Mr. Witold Radwanski is the Managing Partner at Krokus, a leading private equity group in Poland. Krokus has over the last twelve years managed four funds and has recently raised Nova Polonia Natexis II, a Euro 100 million fund targeting expansion and buy-out investments in the Polish lower and mid-cap market. Prior to this experience, Mr. Radwanski worked for EBRD, Chase and Allied Irish Banks. |
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Jim Strang Jim Strang joined Dunedin Capital Partners (Dunedin) as a Director in 2008. Dunedin is an independently owned private equity manager based in the UK with assets under management of £500m. Dunedin operates both as a GP in the UK through its own buyout fund (DBFII) and as an LP on mainland Europe through the fund investment programme it manages on behalf of its client, Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust plc. The fund investment programme targets small and medium sized buyout funds operating in specific countries or regions within mainland Europe. Jim’s prime responsibility at Dunedin is to lead the fund investment programme and manage all indirect / 3rd party investments Dunedin makes on behalf of its clients. Jim joined Dunedin from Gartmore Private Equity where he was an Investment Director and Head of European Buyouts from 2003 to 2008. Prior to joining Gartmore Jim worked for the strategic consultancy Bain and Company based in their London office. Prior to joining Bain and Company Jim graduated from the Business Schools of the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge (where he was a Faculty Scholar) and holds both Masters and Ph.D degrees in Finance. He is a member of the CFA Institute and also acts as a guest lecturer in Private Equity at London Business School. Jim currently represents Dunedin’s interests on the Advisory Boards of funds based in the Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Poland as well as representing Dunedin’s interests in a number of its directly owned investments in the UK. |
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Bill Watson Bill has over 18 years of experience in Eastern and Central European private equity and a track record of active involvement in numerous transactions throughout the region. Bill joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1992 In 1998 he moved to Baring Private Equity Partners (BPEP) as a partner to raise and invest the €86 million Baring Central European Fund (BCEF). In late 2005 the BCEF business was sold to Société Générale Asset Management Alternative Investments (SGAM AI) where Bill assumed the role of Chief Investment Officer for Private Equity for Eastern and Central Europe. The team successfully raised a €156 million fund for mid-market buy-out and expansion capital, which is now being invested. A Canadian (and by marriage a French citizen), he holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA, with distinction, from INSEAD. He is based in Paris. |
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Thomas Wilfling Thomas is Managing Director at AXA Private Equity, heading the team in Vienna covering Central and Eastern Europe. Thomas joined AXA Private Equity to set up the Vienna office in 2008, after 11 years at UniCredit Group. As a Director at UniCredit Bank Austria AG in Vienna, he acted as a deal team leader arranging LBO- and other acquisition- and structured financings for financial sponsors and strategic players throughout CEE across a broad range of industries since 2005. Before then, he led and executed transactions in Global Structured and Project Finance Telecoms at HypoVereinsbank in Munich, which became part of UniCredit. Thomas Wilfling graduated from EDHEC Business School in France and holds a Diploma and a Master of Science in Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics (LSE). |
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