Sector developments and company hires

EMEA
Alvarez & Marsal has launched a European debt advisory practice with the appointment of Tim Metzgen as a London-based md, with the aim of providing clients with independent advice on accessing and managing their interactions with the international debt markets. The new practice - initially comprising a team of five led by Metzgen - will help companies source, negotiate and amend debt finance across an increasingly diverse and complex range of structures and markets. Metzgen joins from Marlborough Partners, where he served as head of the corporate advisory team. Prior to this, he served for 15 years as a senior director on the KPMG debt advisory team, as well as holding roles in the capital markets teams at RBC, JPMorgan and Barclays.

CAPZA has appointed Caroline Abensour as head of investor relations, drawing on her 15 years of fundraising experience and her network of family offices, private banks and European institutions. Based in Paris, she will be responsible for expanding the firm's geographical commercial footprint and diversifying its client base. Abensour was previously md at Chenavari in London, where she headed business development in the Nordic countries, the UK, Switzerland and Germany. Additionally, Stefan Arneth is set to join CAPZA in Munich next month as sales manager for the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), responsible for developing relationships with LPs in the region. He was previously head of institutional clients at MEAG, developing third-party business for the firm.

SME guarantee doubled
The EIF and UniCredit have increased the InnovFin SME guarantee, enabling UniCredit to offer - via its nine banks and six leasing entities across Central and Eastern Europe - additional financing worth €500m to innovative SMEs and small mid-caps in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The transaction brings UniCredit’s commitment under the initiative to a total of €1bn. The banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Serbia and the leasing company in Serbia will benefit from the support of a guarantee provided by the EIF and backed by Horizon 2020, while the guarantee agreements with the banks and leasing companies in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia will be backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments. The InnovFin facility provides guarantees and counter-guarantees on debt financing of between €25,000 and €7.5m, in order to improve access to loan finance for innovative companies with up to 499 employees. The facility is managed by EIF and rolled out through financial intermediaries in EU member states and associated countries.