Fundraising

AXA strengthens Frankfurt team

Paris-headquartered AXA Private Equity has followed the recent spate of private equity firms hiring in Germany with an appointment to its Frankfurt office.

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AXA Private Equity has expanded its team in Germany with the appointment of Werner Quillmann, former managing partner at private equity firm Equita Management.

Quillmann founded Equita Management, the German private equity arm of Harald Quandt Group, in 1990. While there, he presided over the raising of Equita Fonds 1, which closed at €172 million ($211 million) in 1993, and Equita Fonds 2, which closed in 2000 at €201 million.

Werner Quillman, investment manager, AXA Private Equity 

Prior to that, Quillmann was managing director of BB Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaft, where he led the restructuring of two funds and the creation of a new fund; a member of the management board at Deutsche Betiligungsgesellschaft (a subsidiary of Deutche Bank in Frankfurt); and vice president of the direct investment department of Berliner Handels- und Frankfurter Bank.

The appointment follows a number of recent hires by private equity firms in Germany. Last week, 3i recruited Frederik Roth as senior director of its European buyout team from Permira’s Frankfurt office, while HgCapital hired former Kennet Venture Partners director Alex King to focus on technology investments in Germany and Benelux. In July, Nordic private equity firm EQT promoted partner Marcus Brennecke to head up its German operations.

The Frankfurt office of AXA, which now totals 18 staff, was opened in 2002 and comprises a fund of funds portfolio headed up by managing director Stephan Illenberger, and a direct funds unit managed by Dr. Helmut Pitsch.

AXA Private Equity Germany currently manages €700 million in fund of funds, focusing on fund of funds investments in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the secondary and direct markets.

AXA Private Equity has offices in Paris, London, New York and Singapore, from which it manages and advises private equity funds with assets in excess of €7 billion. In December 2004, the firm announced the final closing of a new secondaries fund, AXA Secondary Fund III, on $1 billion.