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by Baz Hiralal
Portman Square Capital will launch in the fourth quarter with $500 million in assets under management, taking a multi-strategy relative value approach. Among the partners at the London-based hedge fund are Sutesh Sharma, Lalit Das and Yusaf Khan.
Sharma previously co-founded Old Lane Partners with Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit. OLP was acquired by Citi in 2007 for $800 million. Sharma was named head of proprietary trading at Citi. Earlier, he was head of prop trading at Morgan Stanley. Das and Khan are former Old Lane portfolio managers.
Evercore Partners Inc. added George Estey to its investment banking business as a senior managing director and head of Canada. The Toronto office will open on Aug. 13. Estey was a managing director at Greenhill & Co., where he was co-head of the Canadian business. He previously worked in investment banking services and corporate finance at Goldman, Sachs & Co. from 1987 to 1999, when he assumed responsibility for the Canadian business. He was chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada until 2005.
Brian McCarthy joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch as vice chairman, healthcare investment banking, based in New York. He was head of healthcare investment banking at Oppenheimer & Co. for the past four years. Before that, he was co-head of healthcare investment banking at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and previously spent about seven years with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as co-head of healthcare investment banking.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP appointed Henrique Meirelles as a senior adviser to the firm. Meirelles was Brazil's central bank chief under former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, serving from January 2003 to December 2010. Meirelles was previously president of FleetBoston's corporate and global bank since 1999, following the merger of BankBoston Corp. and Fleet Financial Group. Meirelles joined BankBoston in 1974, becoming its president in Brazil in 1984 and its president and chief operating officer in 1996. He is chairman of beef producer JBS SA's parent company, J&F Participações SA; chairman of Lazard Americas; and a board member of Brazilian airline Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras SA.
Institutional alternative investment manager Crestline Investors Inc. brought in Keith Williams as a managing director and senior portfolio manager. He previously helped launch McKinsey & Co.'s recovery and transformation practice. Before that, Williams was a founding senior member of Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s distressed principal investing business in the special situations group. Earlier, he was a senior vice president and head of distress for the Americas at Lone Star Acquisitions. He will be co-portfolio manager of the Crestline Opportunity Fund II, working alongside Chris Semple, who joined the firm last year from Goldman.
Monroe Credit Advisors LLC recruited Jeff Knopping as a managing director and partner to open its New York office. He was most recently a managing director in William Blair & Co.'s private capital and special situations groups. Knopping also spent 13 years at GE Capital, where he co-founded the debt capital markets business and ultimately led all capital markets activities for GE Commercial Finance, and was chief investment officer of the global sponsor finance practice. Prior to that, he spent six years in Citigroup Inc.'s loan syndication business.
Perella Weinberg Partners LP named Ivan Seidenberg an advisory partner. Seidenberg was most recently chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications Inc. He stepped down as Verizon CEO in July 2011 and retired from the company in December. Previously, Seidenberg was chairman and CEO of Verizon's predecessor companies, NYNEX and Bell Atlantic.
Man Group plc's finance director Kevin Hayes is leaving the firm to pursue other interests and will be replaced by Jonathan Sorrell. Sorrell joined Man in August 2011 as head of strategy and corporate finance after more than a decade at Goldman, Sachs & Co.
MacKay Shields LLC hired John Akkerman as a senior managing director and global head of distribution. Akkerman was most recently a senior managing director, global institutions, at AllianceBernstein LP.
Stephens Inc. promoted Ben Wyatt to senior research analyst covering master limited partnerships in the energy practice of its research division. He was a member of the exploration and product research team in Fort Worth. The former Atlanta Braves minor league pitcher was a vice president in the wealth management division of Citi Smith Barney, where he worked from 2005 to 2008. From 2002 to 2005, he worked with Regions Bank's private banking group.
King & Wood Mallesons added to its energy and resources practice in Beijing, tapping partner Dirk Walker from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, of counsel Dina Yin from Linklaters LLP and an associate.
Clippings from the next column:
-- Credit Suisse Group hires Rob Irwin as global co-head of its transportation and autos group alongside Andrew Horrocks.
-- Rothschild names Peter Wheeler as an executive vice chairman of the firm and co-head of Southeast Asia.
-- Houlihan Lokey Inc. hires Kristian Terling as a managing director and head of Nordic coverage.
-- Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking names Brian Curran as head of portfolio trading and quantitative distribution for U.K. and Northern Europe.
-- BATS Chi-X Europe's chief operating officer Paul O'Donnell will return to Morgan Stanley in New York.
Perella Weinberg Partners LP named Ivan Seidenberg an advisory partner. He was most recently chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications Inc.
