Zurich, 1 December 2021 – Blue Horizon, a pure-play impact investor accelerating the transition to a new Sustainable Food System, welcomes Manu Gupta, a leader in US and European venture capital, to its Board of Directors.

The appointment of Manu Gupta to the Board of Directors further bolsters the leadership of Blue Horizon with additional strategic counsel from a leader in venture capital investment with a track record identifying early-stage opportunities primed for growth.

Manu joins a Board that has overseen the rapid expansion of Blue Horizon in the last 6 years since founding, on a mission to accelerate the global transition to a new sustainable food system while delivering outstanding returns for investors and the planet.

The news follows significant business developments of the asset manager which recently appointed a General Counsel, a new Partner as well as two Directors to the investment team. The investment team of 9 now consists of 67% women with 28 Blue Horizon employees worldwide. Manu brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Board of Directors at an inflection point of new investment opportunities in sustainable food and agriculture innovation, which Blue Horizon aims to capture amid increasing interest from institutional investors and multibillion-dollar funds in a sustainable future of food.

Manu has been investing in tech for more than 12 years across the US, Europe, and Asia. Today he is best known as founder of Blue Lion, a venture capital firm that invests in multi-stage technology companies. Manu is also a founding member and ex-Partner of Lakestar, one of Europe’s largest tech venture funds. His investments and board memberships include Opendoor (IPO), SoFI (IPO), Robinhood (IPO), Maker Studios (M&A), Pipe, Forward Health, Figure Tech, Taulia, Aetion Health, Builder.ai, Even Health, Vested Finance, Casafari, Omio, to name a few.

Manu was previously an Executive Director and Head of European Internet coverage at Goldman Sachs, working across both the London and San Francisco offices. He started his career as a Product Manager at Oracle and software coder at Sun Microsystems. Manu graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) from UC Berkeley and has an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has lived in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Zurich and London.

Bjoern Witte, Managing Partner & CEO of Blue Horizon, said: “We are very excited to announce that Manu has joined the Board of Directors as we continue to grow Blue Horizon’s deep bench of talent, drawing expertise from across disciplines that include venture capital, technology, and scientific research to cement our position as the leader in the transition to a new Sustainable Food System. As a well-renowned venture capitalist, Manu brings an invaluable perspective grounded in more than a decade of personal experience investing in early stage start-ups that have gone on to become global technology leaders which gives us another unique advantage to create value for investors and a sustainable future of food.

”Manu Gupta, Member of the Board of Directors at Blue Horizon, said:“Blue Horizon invests at the forefront of an industry that will change the way all of us think about food. I am delighted to join such a high calibre board and actively help shape the bright future of this young company. Blue Horizon offers the possibility to participate in a market opportunity that offers outstanding returns for investors and the planet and I am very much looking forward to being an active part of this ecosystem.”

To date, Blue Horizon has raised funds of over $850 million and invested in 50+ companies with a focus on protein alternatives and food tech. Some of the firm’s most recent investments include Planted, an alternative protein start-up, Mosa Meat, which is developing tissue engineering technologies to mass produce affordable, cultured meat and dairy formulation and AgBiome, the leader in developing innovative products from the Earth’s microbial communities.

Media Release Blue Horizon appoints Manu Gupta to Board of Directors (PDF)

The Board of Directors of Action announced today that Sander van der Laan will be stepping down as CEO of Action to be succeeded by Hajir Hajji, currently Commercial Director and member of the executive management team. The handover marks the next phase of development for Action, in which continued commitment to its customers and significant growth will be coupled with the further implementation of Action’s digital and sustainability strategy.

Sander van der Laan (53) joined Action as CEO in 2015. Under his leadership, Action has grown from €2 billion revenue with 655 stores in six markets to over €5 billion revenue and 1,869 stores in nine markets now. Sander very successfully led the delivery of the Action strategy also during the challenging Covid-19 period, during which Action and its employees demonstrated extraordinary resilience.

Simon Borrows, Chief Executive of 3i and Chairman of the Board of Action: “On behalf of 3i and Action’s Board I want to recognise and thank Sander for successfully leading the company. Action has continued its strong growth despite the uncertainties presented by the pandemic. He leaves the business performing strongly and on track to deliver its business plan. He has been a driven and committed colleague and I want to thank Sander for his leadership and wish him the very best.”

Sander van der Laan added: “It has been a great pleasure to lead such a great company and team. The passion and drive of our employees has been a source of inspiration for me. When I joined Action, my task was very clear: further strengthen the foundations of the company as the fastest growing non-food discounter in Europe and prepare the leadership of the company for the future. We will soon be opening our 2,000th store and I believe this is the right time for Hajir to take over from me. Hajir is Action. Her achievements across the business are unprecedented. And she is the right professional to lead the team and our operations into the next phase of growth and development. I want to thank Simon and all other members of the Board, my colleagues in the executive management team and all our employees who make Action such an amazing company, for their enormous support during my six years at the helm of Action.”

Hajir Hajji: through the ranks of Action

Hajir Hajji (41) joined Action 24 years ago as a store employee, then aged 17. Over the years she has successfully worked her way through the ranks of the organisation in a variety of management roles. Hajir was Director Store Operations for seven years, responsible for Action’s sales and international retail operations, including the opening of new stores and expansion to new markets. For the past three years Hajir worked as Commercial Director, responsible, amongst other things, for global buying, marketing, e-commerce and sustainability. Hajir has been a member of the executive management team since 2011.

The Action Board is delighted that Hajir will succeed Sander. Simon Borrows: “Hajir is a significant part of the Action DNA and the natural successor to Sander. Action is ready for the next phase of its growth agenda with an increased focus on digital and sustainable growth, two areas for which Hajir is currently responsible. Hajir has great retail expertise and is a strong leader. A long-standing Action executive and an advocate of the Action culture and values, she will bring both continuity and a new push for Action’s next phase of growth. I look forward to working with her and wish her success in her new role.”

Hajir Hajji: “Action is a great business with a very strong formula and a unique culture. As we move into a next phase of growth and development, I intend to continue building on our past achievements and explore with our 65,000 dedicated employees and our partners the opportunities ahead. I want to thank Sander for his contribution to the business during his time as CEO, our cooperation and for helping me to get accustomed to my new role. And I want to thank the Board for their confidence in me and the entire Action team.”

Hajir will formally become CEO of Action on 1 January 2022, while Sander will remain with the company until the end of March 2022 in order to ensure a smooth transition. The appointment of Hajir is subject to advice from Action’s works council.

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For further information, contact:

About 3i Group

3i is a leading international investment manager focused on mid-market Private Equity and Infrastructure.  Our core investment markets are northern Europe and North America.

For further information, please visit: www.3i.com

About Action

Action is the fastest growing non-food discounter in Europe, offering an ever changing variety of c.6,000 products in almost 1,900 stores to more than 11 million customers every week. In addition, each week another eight million consumers visit the Action.com website. Action employs over 65,000 people in nine countries with over 130 different nationalities. While offering our constantly surprising assortment at the lowest prices, we continue to improve our products in terms of quality and sustainability. The business has responded well to the challenges posed by the pandemic and is on track to deliver on its growth plans for 2021 and beyond in all its markets. The promise of Action: Small prices. Big Smiles.

Continuing to build on the firm’s growing North American investor base and in anticipation of upcoming fundraisings initiatives, DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is excited to announce the expansion of its investor relations & business development team with a senior hire in North America.

Toms Lokmanis is joining as a Senior Director, based in Toronto, and will be responsible for covering the North American institutional market, including DIF’s existing investors and investment consulting firms. Toms brings over 12 years of industry experience. Prior to joining DIF, Toms worked at CBRE Caledon, now CBRE Investment Management (“CBRE”), out of the Toronto office, where he focused on growing the firm’s managed infrastructure and real estate strategies. Before CBRE he worked at Manulife Investment Management and Industrial Alliance in senior institutional sales roles. Toms is a CFA Charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and holds a B.A. Honours in Economics from McMaster University.

Allard Ruijs, Partner and Head of Investor Relations & Business Development: “I am very happy to welcome Toms to DIF Capital Partners. We believe he is a great first local hire for the IRBD team contributing his strong personal North American reputation, a relevant investor network as well as significant capital raising experience. Toms will lead in further developing DIF’s investor network and strengthening of the DIF brand positioning in North America.”

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is a leading global independent fund manager, with more than €9.0 billion in assets under management across nine closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF Capital Partners invests in greenfield and operational infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

• Traditional DIF funds, of which DIF Infrastructure Fund VI is the latest vintage, target equity investments with long-term contracted or regulated income streams including public-private partnerships, concessions, utilities, and (renewable) energy projects.
• DIF CIF funds, of which DIF CIF II is the latest vintage, target equity investments in small to mid-sized economic infrastructure assets in the telecom, energy, and transportation sectors.

DIF supports the goal of Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in-line with global efforts as a result of the Paris Agreement to have net zero emissions by 2050, or sooner.

DIF Capital Partners has a team of over 170 professionals, based in ten offices located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney, and Toronto. For more information please visit www.dif.eu.

Contact:
Allard Ruijs, IR & BD
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

We are pleased to announce that Martin Welna will join Adelis as a new Partner from October 1^st 2021.

Martin brings more than 15 years of professional experience from senior positions in private equity, investment banking, as well as an operational background.

The recruitment of Martin Welna is part of a carefully planned succession process where former Adelis Partner Steffen Thomsen has chosen to move into a Senior Advisor role.

“We are very pleased that Martin is joining the Adelis team. He has a strong investment track record in private equity coupled with a successful operational career. Denmark is a very important market for Adelis and our team has made several successful investments there over the past eight years. We are excited about adding Martin’s capabilities to help us continue to build the leading lower mid-market private equity firm in Denmark and the Nordics”, says Jan Åkesson, Co-Managing Partner at Adelis.

“Having spent more than 20 great years in private equity, including the better part of a decade with Adelis, I am looking forward to having more time for my other interests, while at the same time supporting Adelis in Denmark in my new role as a Senior Adviser”, says Steffen Thomsen.

Martin will be based in Adelis’ new office location in Copenhagen.

For enquiries please contact:

Martin Welna, + 45 21 99 67 57

Steffen Thomsen, + 45 40 28 34 09

Jan Åkesson, + 46 70 353 11 11

New York, New York – October 13, 2021 – Blackstone today announced the appointment of Emily Yoder as Senior Managing Director, Strategic Relationship Management. She will serve as a primary interface with Blackstone’s banking and other financial services partners. In this newly created role, Ms. Yoder will be responsible for delivering a firm-wide approach to relationship management.

Commenting on the announcement, Vik Sawhney, Chief Administrative Officer and Global Head of Institutional Client Solutions said: “We’ve known Emily for many years, and I’m very excited to welcome her to the Blackstone team. Her skills will help us deepen our relationships with key financial partners as we continue to rapidly expand into new verticals.”

Emily Yoder commented: “I’ve grown to know Blackstone during my tenure in the financial services industry and am thrilled to be joining the firm during a time of rapid growth. I look forward to partnering with the leadership team to deepen our banking relationships and provide capital solutions as the business expands.”

Before joining Blackstone in 2021, Ms. Yoder worked at JPMorgan as a Managing Director in their Senior Relationship Management team, focusing on hedge funds and alternative asset managers. Ms. Yoder started her career in trading for JPMorgan, and was a founding member of the Emerging Markets Eurobond Trading team at JPMorgan in London. Ms. Yoder was the primary risk taker focusing on FX, Cross-Currency Swaps, and Local Market government bonds in CEEMEA & Latin America. Ms. Yoder graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas with a B.A. in Mathematical Economic Analysis and Latin America Studies.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $684 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Contact
Kate Holderness
Kate.Holderness@blackstone.com
646-482-8774

Cambridge, MA – October 13, 2021 – Blackstone Life Sciences (“BXLS”), Blackstone’s life sciences business, announced today that Dr. Monika Vnuk and Matt Lane have joined BXLS as Managing Directors in the firm’s Cambridge office. Dr. Vnuk joins from Pfizer, where she served as Vice President of Worldwide Business Development, having recently led Pfizer’s partnership with BioNTech for their COVID-19 vaccine. Mr. Lane joins with more than 20 years of experience in advising life sciences companies, including more than 15 years at Cowen Group, a leading life sciences focused investment bank.

Dr. Nicholas Galakatos, Global Head of Blackstone Life Sciences said: “We are excited to welcome Monika and Matt to the team. Their collective expertise in complex deal structuring, and their networks in the biopharmaceutical sector will help us expand our investment activities as we seek to advance important medicines to patients.”

Before joining Blackstone Life Sciences, Dr. Vnuk spent nearly 15 years in leadership roles at Pfizer, including most recently as Vice President of Worldwide Business Development. In that role she led the negotiation of the successful partnership with BioNTech directed at the global co-development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Before joining Pfizer, Dr. Vnuk worked in investment banking at Bank of America and at Oxford Bioscience Partners, a life sciences venture capital firm. Dr. Vnuk holds an MD degree from the Boston University School of Medicine and a B.A. from Boston University.

Prior to joining Blackstone Life Sciences, Mr. Lane was a Managing Director at Gilmartin Group LLC, a strategic advisory firm. Before joining Gilmartin, Mr. Lane spent more than 15 years with Cowen Group as a Managing Director where he focused on supporting life sciences companies at all stages of their development. Before working in finance, Mr. Lane served as Press Secretary to US Senator Judd Gregg. He received a B.A. from Amherst College.

In July 2020, BXLS raised the largest private life sciences fund to date and currently has more than $7 billion in assets under management.

About Blackstone Life Sciences
Blackstone Life Sciences is an industry-leading private investment platform with capabilities to invest across the life cycle of companies and products within the key life science sectors. By combining scale investments and hands-on operational leadership, Blackstone Life Sciences helps bring to market promising new medicines and medical technologies that improve patients’ lives. More information is provided at https://www.blackstone.com/our-businesses/life-sciences/.

Contact
Paula Chirhart
+1-347-463-5453
paula.chirhart@blackstone.com

October 1, 2021

Annabel will lead KKR’s strategic communications activities in EMEA across KKR’s investment platforms, managing all external communications, brand-building and content development as well as KKR’s EMEA agency network. She will also provide communications support and advice on external engagement to KKR’s portfolio companies.

Annabel was previously Head of Asia-Pacific Corporate Communications at The Carlyle Group, leading the firm’s communications strategy across the region. Annabel built and drove a renewed approach to communications for Carlyle in Asia-Pacific, working in partnership with the firm’s global and local leadership on a proactive programme that supported the firm’s business objectives and activities. Prior to joining Carlyle, she spent ten years working at different European and global communications agencies in London and Hong Kong. She holds an MA from The University of Edinburgh.

Ludo Bammens, Managing Director and Head of EMEA Corporate Affairs, and Kristi Huller, Managing Director and Global Head of Corporate Marketing and Communications at KKR, said: “We welcome Annabel to KKR at an exciting time for our EMEA platform which is seeing significant growth across our core investment platforms in this region; Private Equity, Real Estate, Infrastructure and Credit. Effective communication with stakeholders is a critical part of doing business today. Annabel’s expertise and international experience will be invaluable in driving external engagement and supporting our portfolio companies as we continue to scale in EMEA.”

Annabel Arthur, Head of EMEA Corporate Communications at KKR, said: “I’m delighted to join KKR and excited by the opportunity of working with one of the world’s leading investors to communicate the strengths of the KKR platform and the benefits it can provide for companies and clients.”

Annabel can be reached at annabel.arthur@kkr.com.

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About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Media Contacts

Alastair Elwen / Sophia Johnston

Finsbury Glover Hering

Telephone: +44 20 7251 3801

Email: kkr@fgh.com