Equistone continues to grow UK investment team with appointment in Birmingham

Equistone Partners Europe (“Equistone”), one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity investors, today announces the appointment of Will Copeland as Investment Manager in its Birmingham office and the promotion of Ed Baker to the role of Investment Director in its London office. The moves further strengthen Equistone’s origination and investment capabilities in the UK market, as well as bolstering the firm’s longstanding presence in the UK regions and extending its track record of supporting the development of its team.

Will joins Equistone from BGF, where he worked as an Investor for three years, with responsibility for the full investment process from origination, through execution, to portfolio management and exit. Prior to this he worked at PwC for five years, originally in the London Audit team, before moving back to the Midlands, joining the Deals team in Birmingham. There he worked on a number of buy-side, sell-side, and refinancing transactions for institutional investors and privately owned businesses. Will has a Finance degree from Newcastle University.

Ed joined Equistone as an Investment Manager in January 2018, having previously worked at lower-mid-market private equity firm MML Capital Partners for four years and at KPMG for six years. He has since worked on Equistone’s investments in Nylacast, a world-class designer and manufacturer of precision-engineered polymer solutions based in Leicester, and CH&CO, a leading UK contract catering group headquartered in Reading.

Steve O’Hare, Senior Partner and UK Country Head for Equistone, commented: “Our talented UK team of experienced investment professionals, operating out of our offices in Birmingham, London, and Manchester, provides us with the local presence and knowledge to build productive long-term relationships with management teams and to support leading mid-market businesses in fulfilling their potential. We’re therefore delighted that Will is joining Equistone in Birmingham, further enhancing our ability to source, carry out, manage, and successfully exit investments – not only among the exciting array of high-quality businesses in the Midlands, but also across the UK. Similarly, Ed’s promotion to the role of Investment Director reflects his excellent contribution to the work of the deal team in originating and executing deals since he joined the firm last year.”

Will’s appointment follows a number of other recent additions across the firm’s pan-European team in 2019 to date, with Hubert van Wolfswinkel having joined Equistone as a Director and Julia Brunswicker as an Investment Manager in the firm’s Munich office, Isabella Boman-Flavell and Caroline Pinton as Investment Managers in London and Paris respectively, and Philipp Gauß as Associate in Munich. Ed’s promotion is the eighth within Equistone’s investment team this year, including Andi Tomkinson having joined the Partnership in the firm’s Manchester office.