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Weekly People Roundup: 8 October 200808/10/2008. 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.
Private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners has appointed Peter Baumgartner as managing director of Vestar Resources, the firm's team who serve as strategic, operational and organisational advisors for the private equity firm's portfolio company management teams. Based in Vestar's Munich office, Baumgartner will focus on assisting existing and future companies in Vestar's European investment portfolio. Most recently, he was a partner and managing director at Mercer/Oliver Wyman. Vestar focuses on the US, Europe and Japan. To date, the firm has completed over 65 investments in companies with a total value of over $30bn.
US mezzanine fund LBC Credit Partners has hired Allan Allweiss as a managing director responsible for the firm's newly opened Chicago office. Prior to joining LBC, Allweiss was executive vice president of CIT Commercial and Industrial. LBC Credit Partners provides privately negotiated junior capital to mid-market businesses with revenues less than $750m and junior debt requirements of $10-50m. To date, the firm has invested across a number of industry sectors with investments taking the form of last-out senior loans, tranche B loans, second lien loans, mezzanine debt and convertible debt and equity participations.
North American mid-market private equity firm Gridiron Capital has appointed Joseph A Saldutti, Jr as managing director. He will be responsible for working on the firm's acquisitions and development efforts. He will also work closely with Gridiron's portfolio companies on various strategic and operating initiatives, the firm said. Saldutti previously led investments at TDA Capital Partners, where he became a principal of TDA in 1997 and president of TDA and its funds' general partner in 2002. Gridiron is currently investing its $300m Gridiron Capital Fund.
UK mid-market private equity investor Inflexion Private Equity has appointed Richard Swann as investment director. He joins from LDC where he was investment director between 2005-2008, most recently leading the MBO of NAH and co-leading investments in GVA and Commercial First. Prior to that, Richard was a partner at Deloitte Corporate Finance. Inflexion is currently investing from its £165m fund, which closed in 2006. Its most recent investment was SMD in April 2008.
UK private equity firm Sovereign Capital has hired Jon Edington as assistant director in its portfolio development team. He joins Sovereign from 3i. Previously, he worked at Deloitte Consulting in London. In his new role, he will support Sovereign's buy-and-build strategy, working with management teams to identify and secure bolt-on opportunities and follow-on rounds of finance where appropriate, according to a statement. In addition, he will also realise maximum value from portfolio companies at exit.
Dubai International Capital has appointed Eric Kump as managing director, private equity, and Marc Hollander as finance director, private equity. Kump and Hollander will report to Sylvain Denis, CEO of DIC Private Equity. Prior to joining DIC, Kump was a managing director with Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity. Hollander was previously at Investor AB, where he was a managing director in the private equity division and was responsible for controlling and reporting for the firm's private equity portfolio. Bain Capital Europe co-founding partner Alykhan Nathoo is also to join DIC as CEO of DIC Emerging Markets. Based in Dubai, Nathoo will be responsible for spearheading direct investments in emerging markets and managing the growth plans of the existing emerging markets portfolio. The current emerging markets portfolio includes Rivoli and KEF in the UAE, True Group in Singapore and DIC's country-specific funds: Jordan Dubai Capital and Saudi Dubai Capital.
Private equity fund of funds and secondaries manager Pantheon has strengthened its San Francisco-based team with the addition of two senior professionals. Carol Foster joins as a principal in client services and Jeff Lumbard joins marketing as a vice president. Foster was previously a managing director and CFO at Calera Capital. Lumbard was a senior associate at Hamilton Lane Advisors, where he looked after marketing and client services for both private equity funds of funds and separate accounts. Pantheon recently appointed three new professionals for its primary investment team in Hong Kong.
Zurich-based private equity fund of funds manager Alpha Associates has appointed Dr Kurt Geiger, former head of financial institutions and private equity and chairman of the Equity Committee at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as special adviser and chairman of its advisory board. Alpha Associates is further expanding its investments in the region, particularly in Russia and CIS, where Geiger's experience and network will be a great asset, the firm said in a statement. Alpha Associates has CHF2bn of assets under management. The firm very recently recruited another leading figure from EBRD: Henry Potter, former senior private equity banker at the EBRD.
Pan-European life sciences investment group Life Sciences Partners has appointed Geraldine O'Keeffe as a senior investment manager. O'Keeffe will focus on investing in publicly-traded biotech companies. She joins LSP from Fortis, where she was responsible for European and US biotech research in her position as a senior equity analyst. O'Keeffe spent eight years at Fortis covering the international biotech space, actively providing research on biotech companies in Europe and in the US. LSP provides private and public equity financing to early to mid stage life science companies. The firm has €400m under management and offices in Amsterdam, Munich and Boston.
Technology and life sciences-focused venture capital firm TVM Capital has appointed Dr Irena Melnikova to join the firm's Life Science Team in Boston as a senior associate. She will focus on US-based investments and due diligence. Prior to joining TVM Capital, Dr Melnikova launched and produced a series of syndicated reports for Leerink Swann and was a member of the biopharmaceutical investment banking team. Last month TVM Capital participated in the CHF24m financing round for Swiss pharmaceutical company Nitec Pharma.
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