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Weekly People Roundup: 12 March 200812/03/2008. Source: AltAssets. 
 All the week's most important people stories from across the globe. Essential reading for those who need to keep up-to-date with the private equity industry's key staff moves.
Morgan Stanley has appointed James Howland as a managing director and operating partner for Morgan Stanley Private Equity. Based in New York, Howland will assist in efforts to identify companies for investment and acquisition opportunities, and help assume management and strategic oversight for those businesses.
US energy-focused private equity firm First Reserve Corporation has promoted former CFO Jennifer Zarrilli to managing director. Zarrilli joined First Reserve in 1998 and has overall responsibility for all financial aspects of First Reserve and its funds including all aspects of financial reporting. Before joining First Reserve, she was a financial executive with private equity firm Quadrant Management, where she worked for six years. Prior to that time, she spent three years with Ernst & Young as an accountant.
PCG Asset Management has hired Mehdi Hasan to the firm's cleantech team as a senior research associate. In his new role, he will assist in the identification, analysis, due diligence and selection of cleantech investments. Prior to joining PCG AM, Hasan was an equity research associate in the semiconductor group at JPMorgan. PCG AM has approximately $15bn in assets under management.
Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm specialising in the media, entertainment and communications industries, has appointed Craig Cooper as managing director and head of its new digital media investments group. Cooper will focus on new media, wireless and consumer internet investment opportunities in the US and international markets and also oversee the digital media strategies of Saban Capital's portfolio investments. Cooper was most recently a director of PureVideo Networks, AmpTech Design, Thumbplay, YouMail and Shanghai-based wireless products and services company EBT Mobile China. He was also a venture partner at VantagePoint Venture Partners and was a founding partner in the SoftBank Capital Technology Fund.
New York and London-based private equity firm TowerBrook Capital Partners has entered into a consulting agreement with experienced restaurant executive Anthony Wedo, working together on potential investment opportunities in the restaurant sector on behalf of TowerBrook and its affiliates and funds under management. Wedo began his career at PepsiCo, eventually becoming vice president and general manager of the Southeast Division of KFC. In 1993, he founded Mid-Atlantic Restaurant Systems, where he was chairman, president and CEO. Mid-Atlantic was acquired by Boston Market and from 2001 to 2004, Wedo held the position of chairman, president and CEO of New World Restaurant Group. TowerBrook Capital Partners has offices in New York and London and focuses on making investments in North American and European companies.
PCG Asset Management has appointed Thomas Bernhardt as a senior vice president and the head of research. Bernhardt will be responsible for managing the research group and will lead the identification, analysis, due diligence and selection of private market investments. Bernhardt joins PCG AM from CTC Consulting, a subsidiary of Banc of America. While at CTC, he worked as a senior research analyst and was involved in all aspects of the firm's private equity research functions. He co-led the sourcing of investment opportunities across the private equity spectrum and managed the real estate.
The Riverside Company has promoted Anne Hayes, Kristin Newhall and Volker Schmidt to partner. Hayes and Newhall work with the Riverside Capital Appreciation Fund in the firm's New York office, while Schmidt is based in Munich as part of the Riverside Europe Fund team. Hayes joined Riverside in 2001 as an associate, Newhall joined the firm as an associate in 2000 and Schmidt joined in 2003 as a principal. Riverside focuses on the smaller end of the mid-market, particularly in LBOs.
Venture capital firm Noro-Moseley Partners has hired Greg Foster to join its investment team. Foster will strengthen the firm's focus in technology investments, with a specific emphasis on opportunities in digital media. Most recently, Foster was vice president of corporate development for Turner Broadcasting, where he was responsible for Turner New Media Investments, the company's early stage strategic investment arm, and also M&A activities. Foster joined Turner after it acquired his company, Southern Direct. In addition to founding Southern Direct, Foster has been a member of the management team of two other start-ups, serving as senior vice president of Corporate Development at iXL and vice president of business and corporate development at Silverpop Systems.
Vector Capital, a private equity firm specialising in spin-outs, buy-outs and recapitalisations of technology businesses, has appointed COO and CFO of Thomas Weisel Partners, David Baylor, as COO, following his departure from Thomas Weisel. Baylor will be based in San Francisco and will be responsible for all of Vector's internal operations, management, and infrastructure. Prior to Thomas Weisel, Baylor was a certified public accountant with Deloitte & Touche, an attorney with Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin, and a managing director with Montgomery Securities. Last year, the firm raised Vector Capital IV, a $1.2bn investment fund.
European buy-out firm BC Partners has appointed James Rubin and Daniel Selmonosky as senior partners in the firm's New York office. They will join Raymond Svider and Justin Bateman, who will relocate from the London office. Rubin and Selmonosky join BC Partners from private equity firm One Equity Partners, where they were among the founding partners in 2001. Prior to OEP, both Rubin and Selmonosky were vice presidents at New York merchant bank Allen & Company Incorporated. BC Partners has operated a New York office since 1991, headed by managing partner Kevin O'Donohue.
Advent International has appointed Alice Escoffier as assistant director in its Paris office. Escoffier joins Advent from 3i in Paris, where, as part of the buy-out team, she focused on corporate and industrial sector transactions. Before joining 3i, she was at ING Barings. Last September, the Paris team hired Nicolas Maurin as associate. From 3i, Advent recently also recruited Conor Boden, who will focus on extending Advent's existing operating partner programme.
Europe and Israel-focused early stage technology venture capital firm YL Ventures has appointed internet and digital media veteran Robert Goldberg as a venture partner. Goldberg will be YL Ventures' permanent presence in Silicon Valley. In his new role, he will take an active role in evaluating new investment opportunities and work with portfolio companies. Goldberg will be joining the board of portfolio company ClickTale. Until recently, he was the managing director of Idealab, an early stage investor and incubator.
UK mid-market private equity firm Lyceum Capital is targeting investment opportunities in the legal services sector, which should arise from the Legal Services Act 2007. The firm has established a new legal industry advisory board and recruited Tony Williams, Paul Hewitt and Professor Richard Susskind, OBE to the board. The Legal Services Act will enable law firms to secure private or public investment and will permit non-lawyers to compete in the provision of legal services - together with or separately from legal professionals, Lyceum said. In 2002, Williams established Jomati Consultants, international management consultants to the legal profession. Hewitt is currently chairman of YSC, senior non-executive director of the Kiln Group and a non-executive director of Co-operative Financial Services and GMT Global Aviation. Professor Susskind is an independent adviser to law firms, in-house legal departments and national governments.
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