DLJ Phoenix Private Equity Eyes European Opportunities

London-based DLJ Phoenix Private Equity is staffing up to develop its business in Continental Europe on the back of its established UK franchise.

Senior executives Stefano Bonfiglio and Gregorio Napoleone in January relocated to DLJ Phoenix from Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. in New York. The pair, who previously worked together at Bankers Trust, have extensive experience of private equity and M&A transactions in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

DLJ Phoenix managing director David Gregson said Stefano Bonfiglio and Gregorio Napoleone would mainly focus on opportunities in France, Italy and Spain while working as an integral part of the eight-strong London team and providing input into the Continental angle of UK-based investments. He added that DLJ Phoenix is now looking to complement its Southern European resource through the addition of executives with a Northern European private equity background, who would also be based in London.

DLJ Phoenix has to date focused solely on UK investments and David Gregson said he would be “very surprised” to see any non-UK investments in the group’s current fund, a GBP133 million (euro 195 million) vehicle that closed shortly before DLJ’s acquisition of the independent Phoenix Group in early 1997. Phoenix Equity Partners II is now more than half invested, and David Gregson confirmed that the group is now “giving thought” to a successor fund, although no firm decisions have yet been taken on timing or size.