Darby appoints Sean Wallace as senior managing director

Darby Overseas Investments, the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton, is beefing up its Asian operations with the appointment of Sean Wallace as senior managing director in Hong Kong. Joining in April, Wallace will report to Richard Frank, the firm’s chief executive officer based in Washington, DC.

Wallace, who joins from JP Morgan where he was head of capital markets for Asia Pacific until he resigned in early February, has nearly twenty years of experience in investment banking, having worked on capital raising and corporate finance advisory work.

In his new capacity at Darby, Wallace will focus on attracting additional funds to back the firm’s mezzanine activities in Asia, and help expand its private equity capability in the region, according to a statement. Aside from Hong Kong, Darby has offices in Seoul and Mumbai.

Darby’s addition is the latest in a string of senior appointments made by international private equity firms busy boosting their presence in Asia.

In Asia, Darby has raised its second mezzanine fund, Darby Asia Mezzanine Fund II, which in late 2006 made two investments in China. In July last year, Darby and Korea’s Hana Bank closed their jointly-managed Korea Emerging Infrastructure Fund on $610 million.