ICG appoints European secondaries head

Intermediate Capital Group has made a senior hire as part of a secondaries push in its listed private equity business.

The London-headquartered alternatives manager has appointed Vivien Blossier as head of European secondaries investments in its private equity funds investments team, according to a statement. The team manages the £811 million ($1.08 billion; €970.7 million) ICG Enterprise Trust, a London-listed private equity vehicle.

Blossier joins from Swiss boutique alternatives manager Unigestion where he was vice-president responsible for sourcing, executing and monitoring European private equity secondaries investment. Prior to that he spent five years at Pomona Capital.

The funds investments team will continue to focus solely on the Enterprise Trust and will increase its secondaries investment activity, a spokeswoman confirmed. The trust was 5 percent exposed to third-party secondaries investments as of 31 July, according to its half-year results.

Secondaries Investor reported in July that Oliver Gardey, who was Pomona’s head of European operations, would join ICG in late 2019 to head up the Enterprise Trust’s investment team. He replaced Emma Osborne, who moved to a senior advisory role.

In November, Ryan Levitt, another Pomona alumnus, joined ICG as managing director charged with building out the North American fund investment business, Secondaries Investor reported.

Secondaries Investor reported in November that ICG’s strategic equity team, which focuses on complex secondaries transactions, is expecting to wrap up fundraising on its third vehicle before the end of the year. The fund is targeting $1.6 billion.