Northleaf taps former Blackstone star to lead Europe PE

Northleaf Capital Partners has hired a former investment professional from Blackstone’s Strategic Partners unit to lead its private equity business in the UK and EMEA.

Sanja Cvetinovic joins the firm’s London office as a managing partner, according to a statement. As part of the role, she will be responsible for investment origination and execution strategy, including secondaries, primary and direct investments.

Cvetinovic ranked fourth in Secondaries Investor‘s Next Gen Leaders list in 2018 and was recognised for leading more than six multi-hundred-million dollar deals with a European focus. She originally joined Credit Suisse’s Strategic Partners unit in 2007 before it was acquired by Blackstone in 2013.

“I am excited to join Northleaf, a growing firm with a well-established team and a longstanding track record of developing innovative private equity and secondaries solutions for investors,” Cvetinovic said in the statement.

Cvetinovic brings a “proven track record in private equity investing” and will work closely with Northleaf’s leadership team in North America, added Mike Flood, managing director and head of private equity at Northleaf.

Matthieu Ducharme, a managing director who joined Northleaf in 2013, will become head of liquidity and financing solutions, Northleaf added. He will focus on structuring both liquidity and financing offerings. Daniel Dupont continues as vice-chair, Europe – a position he assumed in 2020.

Northleaf’s secondaries business is led globally by Shane Feeney, previously head of private equity at CPP Investments.

Secondaries Investor reported in 2019 that Cvetinovic had left Strategic Partners.

Toronto-headquartered Northleaf manages an $11 billion private equity programme globally with a focus on the mid-market, according to the statement. The firm closed its Northleaf Secondary Partners II fund on $800 million in 2018, according to Secondaries Investor data.