Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC — Scott Peterson has been named managing director of the Atlanta firm’s financial institutions group. Previous titles includes managing director at Warbird Consulting Partners LLC, vice president of finance at Spherion Corp. and director of finance at Amdahl Corp.
Bingham McCutchen LLP — Fred Chang is now at the law firm’s Beijing office as a partner. He will provide legal counsel to global financial institutions on compliance matters, as well as mergers and acquisitions in China. Chang, a former co-founding partner of FenXun Partners, was previously a partner at Hogan Lovells and White & Case LLP, also in Beijing. He also held leadership positions with Goldman Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS) and Deutsche Bank AG, where he served as general counsel and head of compliance in Singapore.
Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. (BGL) — The Cleveland investment bank launched a real estate segment. The business, named Brown Gibbons Lang Real Estate Partners, will provide services to business owners and investors that are interested in recapitalizing or acquiring commercial real estate assets. This new division extends BGL’s existing real estate investment banking platform into investment sales. Christopher Stai and Clinton Parker were each hired as managing directors. Stai will be based in Newport Beach, California while Parker is stationed in San Antonio, Texas. Joining BGLRP in Tampa are senior vice president Jay Crotty and associate Thomas Doyle. Associate Darian Padua joins Parker in San Antonio.
McGlinchey Stafford — Carlos White has joined the law firm as of counsel in the Dallas office. White’s corporate and finance experience is expected to assist McGlinchey’s national consumer financial services team. His career, which spans nine years, has so far included corporate governance and strategic issues, as well as commercial transactions and regulatory matters. Prior to joining the firm, White served as general counsel and assistant general counsel at two middle-market companies.
Monroe Capital LLC — The Chicago lender recently fired and filed a lawsuit against a former managing director and fund partner who has launched his own firm. Former managing director Warren Woo was released for allegedly violating Monroe's company policies regarding confidential firm and client information. The firm said in a lawsuit filed June 19 that Woo improperly accessed Monroe trade secrets and private information about Monroe clients and plans to use that information as the founder of his new firm, Breakaway Capital Partners. Woo joined Monroe in March 2011. He was in charge of West Coast originations and later served as a partner of Monroe Capital Partners Fund. Prior to that, Woo was a founding partner and managing director with Moelis and Co. He had previously served in various positions with investment banks UBS AG, Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette and investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Perella Weinberg Partners — Jorma Ollila (pictured), former chief executive of Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) and current chairman of the board of directors of Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) and Finland-based stainless steel company Outokumpu Oyj (HEL: OUT1V), has been named an advisory partner of the New York financial services firm. In this role, Ollila will provide senior counsel to Perella Weinberg's clients, namely in Europe. Ollila, who began his career at Citibank in 1978, joined Nokia as vice president for its international operations in 1985. He was named chief executive in 1992 and served as chairman and chief executive from 1999 to 2006. He remained as Nokia’s chairman until 2012. He became chairman of the energy company Royal Dutch Shell, which has its headquarters in The Hague and its registered offices in London, in June 2006. He was appointed chairman of the Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu in March 2013.
StepStone Group LP — The private equity firm inked a partnership with PE fund manager Clairvue Capital Partners. The two firms launched a real estate business that will focus on the secondary market, recapitalizations, co-investments and primary fund investments. Clairvue co-founder Jeff Giller was named head of StepStone Real Estate, while fellow co-founders Brendan MacDonald and Josh Cleveland were each named partners of StepStone. Also joining StepStone Real Estate are partner Dev Subhash, previously at Cohen & Steers and Citi Real Estate Partners, as well as Clairvue principal John Waters and vice president Rachael Brittingham. StepStone Real Estate will operate globally and plans to add professionals in Asia over the course of 12 months.
Veronis Suhler Stevenson — The New York investment firm hired Patrick Turner as a managing director, overseeing structured capital and private equity funds. He also will serve as a member of the VSS investment committee. A 25-year middle-market veteran, Turner was a managing director of Crescent Capital Group LP, a below investment grade alternative credit investment manager that was formerly part of Trust Company of the West, of which he also was a Managing Director. Prior to that, he co-founded Canterbury Capital Partners, a New York-based middle market-focused mezzanine firm. Earlier in his career, he held senior executive positions with Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) and Buffalo, New York-based Marine Midland Bank.
For last week's column...
