Advent International — The New York private equity firm named William Johnson an operating partner. Johnson is the former chairman, chief executive and president of H.J. Heinz Co. Ltd. He will work closely with Advent’s retail team to source investment opportunities in the consumer sector, namely focusing on food and packaged goods.


Cannabis Sativa Inc.(OTCQB: CBDS) — Gary Johnson, the former two-term Governor of New Mexico and the Libertarian party's 2012 nominee for president, has been named CEO of the Mesquite, Nevada, company. Steve Kubby, the 1998 Libertarian Party of California candidate for California Governor, was named chairman. Kubby co-founded Kush Inc., a cannabis research company, which was acquired by Cannabis Sativia in late June.


Kirkland & Ellis LLP— The Chicago law firm brought in two lawyers, William Bos and Anthony Speier, to join partner Andy Calder at the recently established Houston office. Bos joins Kirkland from the Houston office of Vinson & Elkins LLP, while Speier jumped over from Baker Botts LLP, also in Houston. Separately, corporate partner Christopher Braunack became the third partner from the firm's Hong Kong office to relocate to London. The move comes on the heels of David Eich, Kirkland's head of private equity in Asia, transfering to London, along with partner Ashley Young.


Morrison & Foerster — William Choe has returned to the firm’s Palo Alto, California office. Choe originally joined the firm in 2010 as a partner focusing on M&A within the technology sector and cross-border transactions between the U.S. and Asia. He left briefly to be a vice president at communications technology firm Neustar Inc., in Sterling, Virginia.


Pensco Trust Co. — Stephen George, founder and managing partner at Panorama Point Partners, was elected to the San Francisco asset management firm's board of directors. A 25-year veteran in private equity and investment management, George was also the co-founder and chief investment officer at Capricorn Investment Group. Earlier in his career, he served as a vice president at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS).


Victory Park Capital — The Chicago asset management firm named Jason Brown partner and head of Victory Park's Los Angeles office. Brown was previously a managing director in corporate and restructuring finance at GE Capital, where he spent more than 10 years. He oversaw teams in the west and mountain regions, serving capital needs of manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and service companies. Prior to that, he was with Comerica Bank.

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