Friday, October 26, 2012

Havers departs Baird after 10 Years

Simon Havers, former chairman of the British Venture Capital Association, has left his role as head of the European private equity operations at investment bank Baird & Co after more than a decade at the firm.


Havers left late last month and is in the process of setting up a new venture, according to a source close to the matter. Havers could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for Baird confirmed Havers' departure, adding that his position would not be filled. Executives at the bank's European private equity business will now report directly to Gordon Pan, a US-based managing partner of Baird Private Equity.

Pan said: "We greatly appreciate the many contributions Simon made to our private equity business over the last decade and he goes with our best wishes."
 
Havers' association with Baird began with a four-year stint at Granville Private Equity Managers between 1994 and 1998. He left Granville to join Dutch Bank ABN Amro but returned in 2002 as the private equity firm began integrating with Baird. He was appointed head of the bank's private equity operations in the UK in 2005 and took the reins of the European business in 2009, following the retirement of the group's founder Michael Proudlock
 
Also in 2009, Havers succeeded Lyceum Capital's Jeremy Hand in the one-year term as chairman of industry trade body the BVCA. He said at the time that his aim was to improve transparency across the industry while pushing for private equity to move away from financial engineering and "adapt itself to the demands of operational improvement" to generate returns.
 
Baird is in the process of raising its second fund dedicated to Europe, which is called Baird Capital Partners Europe Fund II and has a $200m target. The fund will start with two companies purchased from its parent's balance sheet to entice investors, according to a source close to the firm. Baird declined to comment on its fundraising plans.