Ancala hires Gerritsen from PGGM

Ancala Partners (Ancala), the London-headquartered fund manager and adviser, has recruited Vincent Gerritsen as a partner. Gerritsen, who will take up his new role on 1 June, was previously a senior investment manager in the infrastructure team at Dutch pension giant PGGM.

Gerritsen has spent almost four years at PGGM focusing on direct equity investments in Europe and the Americas. He had previously worked for the likes of Duff & Phelps, Bouwfonds Asset Management and KPMG Corporate Finance.

Ancala, which was launched in 2010 and is currently raising its first fund, has completed five deals so far. It advised PGGM on its acquisition of a 33.2 percent stake in NOGAT, an offshore gas pipeline in the North Sea (and associated gas processing plant in the Netherlands), from GDF Suez E&P Nederland in September last year.

Spence Clunie, the former Macquarie senior managing director who established Ancala, said the hire of Gerritsen would help the firm “in terms of our investment and asset management activities and our efforts in forging long-term partnerships with institutional investors”.

While seeking to raise a fund, Ancala has been primarily focused on advisory mandates so far. In addition to the NOGAT deal, it advised the likes of PensionDanmark and Canadian fund manager Northleaf Capital Partners on acquisitions last year.

Gerritsen joins a team of 10 focusing on UK and European mid-market opportunities. The team includes legendary British businessman Sir Gerry Robinson, who is an industry partner.