Abacus Finance Group LLC— The New York-based lending company announced several new hires. Aized Rabbani joins as a senior vice presiden, while Brian Green comes on board as an associate. Rafal Rydzewski and Joseph Lee were also hired as analysts. Previously, Rabbani was an executive director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). Green served as an associate at Aterian Investment Partners and Wafra Partners, and as an analyst at boutique investment bank Sawaya Segalas. Rydzewski and Lee were previously analysts at BNP Paribas and GE Capital, respectively.
Cbiz Inc. (NYSE: CBZ) — The accounting and due diligence provider has hired Sam Wright. As director for the firm’s private equity practice, Wright will assist with the expansion of the Cbiz headquarters in New York. Wright has more than 20 years of transaction and audit experience in both domestic and international markets, focusing on due diligence for middle-market private equity firms. Prior to joining Cbiz in 2014, Wright held accounting positions at both Arthur Andersen LLP and Ernst & Young.
Change Capital Partners — The London private equity firm named Hervé Martin chief executive of recently-acquired portfolio company Frette Srl, a Milan-based home furnishings business. Martin served previously in leadership roles at three Paris-based fashion companies, including Kenzo, as chief executive; Louis Vuitton Malletier, as managing director of Europe and Middle East; and Cartier Jewellery, as chief executive. Change Capital invests in retail and consumer-goods companies.
Cornerstone Research — The San Francisco consulting firm has opened an office in London, marking Cornerstone’s first venture overseas. The firm — which also has offices in New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles — provides financial analysis services on deal regulatory proceedings. Jamie Meehan, a 20-year veteran of business litigation, will lead the London office as senior vice president.
DLA Piper — The New York law firm has recruited partner Kathryn Keneally to be chair of the civil and criminal tax litigation group. Previously, Keneally was assistant attorney general for the tax division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP— The New York law firm hired partner Peter Lyons, who specializes in both domestic and cross-border M&A, especially deals that are sourced in Germany. He joins Freshfields from Shearman & Sterling LLP, where he has been a partner since 1989. While there, he went on to become head of the firm's global M&A group until 2008.
Jaffe Counsel plc — David Jaffe, former vice president of Guardian Industries Corp., has formed his own legal advisory firm. Through Jaffe Counsel, Jaffe intends to leverage his experience as a global general counsel to work with companies on transactions and various corporate matters. At Guardian, Jaffe worked on acquisitions across 13 countries as well as recapitalizations.
K2 Intelligence LLC — The New York risk-analytics firm has tapped Robert Brenner to serve as executive vice president. Brenner joins from Kroll Inc. where he served as senior managing director. K2 is the successor firm of Kroll, which was sold to Marsh & McLennan Cos. for $1.9 billion in 2004. Both Kroll and K2 were founded by notable corporate detective and investigator, Jules Kroll. K2 also has offices in London, Madrid and Tel Aviv. The company provides a variety of data, asset recovery and due diligence services to the M&A community.
Kaye Scholer LLP — Stephen Rutenberg has joined as the New York law firm as a partner. He will work within Kaye Scholer’s bankruptcy and restructuring division. Previously, he was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sheffield Haworth Inc. — Rob Sloan has joined the New York office of the advisory firm as managing director. In this position, Sloan will oversee Sheffield Haworth’s Americas executive talent advisory practice. Previously, he was an investment banker and went on to be a partner at financial services firm Egon Zehnder. In addition to New York, London-based Sheffield Haworth has offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Boston, as well as overseas in Geneva, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia.
