ABR Investment Strategy — After leaving the investment advisory firm in August 2012, technology analyst Joe Locke has rejoined ABR. Locke, one of the firm’s original employees when ABR began in 2010, previously covered technology companies for Pequot Capital and Pantera Capital in San Francisco. He was a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers and head of research for five years in Hong Kong for ABN Amro.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch — Former Goldman Sachs & Co. banker Luigi Rizzo (pictured) has jumped to BofA to lead its M&A business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Rizzo, who will be based in London, specializes in the telecommunications, media and technology sector. He will replace Philip Noblet, who has led BofA’s EMEA team since 2010.
BlackArch Partners — The Charlotte, N.C. investment bank firm has opened a regional office in Houston, which will be run by John Bresnahan, a former managing director from Duff & Phelps Securities.
Duane Morris LLP —Stephen Sussman and Susan Metcalfe (pictured) have joined the law firm as partners in New York and Philadelphia, respectively. Both lawyers were previously at Lebensfeld Borker Sussman & Sharon LLP. Sussman advises on business and franchise litigation, as well as transactions. Metcalfe represents clients in disputes involving trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
Envysion Inc. — The Louisville, Colo.-based video service has named Michelle Shewchuk as chief financial officer. She joins from Exclusive Resorts, a private equity-backed company. Earlier in her career, Shewchuk worked at Berkshire Partners in Boston. In her role as CFO, Shewchuk will be responsible for all finance functions at Envysion, including debt and equity funding and strategic financial planning and analysis, as well as general accounting for the company.
General Catalyst Partners — The venture capital firm, based in Cambridge, Mass. and Palo Alto, Calif, named Yuchun Lee a partner. Lee, a former executive at International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), will be a part of General Catalyst’s entrepreneur in residence program, focused on software developments. Prior to General Catalyst, Lee served as vice president and general manager of IBM’s enterprise marketing management group. He joined IBM in 2010 as part of the computer company’s acquisition of Unica, a marketing company that Lee co-founded in 1992.
Jones Day — Tim L'Estrange (pictured) joined the firm in Sydney, Australia as a partner in the global disputes practice. L'Estrange was previously general counsel at ANZ Bank in London. Before that, he spent 23 years with Allens Arthur Robinson, most recently as managing partner, where he led the litigation group.
Marathon Capital — Tim Meyer has been hired by the Chicago advisory firm as a managing director. He is expected to grow the firm’s investor contacts and private placement capabilities across private equity channels. Previously, Meyer worked in various leadership positions at several firms including Duff & Phelps, CRT Capital, BMO Capital Markets, ING Barings and SPP Hambro & Co.
NewStar Financial Inc. — The Chicago lending firm brought in Wes Frangul as a managing director. Frangul will join Jason Wendorf and Eric Barton to broaden NewStar’s regional marketing activities with responsibility for generating new financing opportunities with private equity firms and other middle-market investors. Prior to joining NewStar, Frangul was a managing director at Arvon Advisors. Before that, he spent about 20 years at at BMO Capital Markets, most recently as a managing director covering real estate.
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