CVC Asia Pacific, the managed buyout firm set up in the region by CVC Capital Partners and Citigroup, is opening a new office in Singapore to be headed by Sigit Prasetya as it prepares to launch a new fundraising round in the region later this year, says Financial News. Prasetya joined the firm from Henderson Equity Partners where he led its activities in south east Asia. The move comes as CVC partner Roy Kuan indicated the attractions of south east Asia as a market for management buyouts, said the online financial news service.
As investment banks see Asia as a growing source of business, Lehman Brothers has appointed its first vice chairman based in the region. Kunho Cho, who was previously head of the firm’s investment banking division in Asia Pacific and has been at Lehman’s since 1989, steps into the job. Under his watch, the firm’s investment banking franchise has grown with Lehman leading significant financing and advisory transactions in the region, the bank said.
ABN Amro, which is presently a takeover target for Barclays but has also received a rival bid, has named insider Robert Moore as head of its North American operations, says Financial News. Moore succeeds Norman Bobins who plans to retire in January but will become chairman of ABN owned LaSalle bank. Moore initially joined ABN Amro in 1996 but left to become chief financial officer for Diageo before returning to ABN Amro’s North American offices as CFO last year, says Financial News.
Commerzbank has found a replacement for Tom Mulligan who left recently. Sean Costello is to head the leveraged loan distribution team for corporates and markets, a team he joined just under two years ago. The bank said it plans to add two more market professionals to the team in the future as the franchise and the deals pipeline grow.