Permira replaces Paris head

British private equity group Permira has announced that Philippe Robert is to retire at the end of the year ‘to pursue other interests’.

Robert will be succeeded by Benoit Vauchy, a TMT specialist, who will head up the firm’s Paris office. Permira has also hired Jean-Marc Espalioux as senior advisor and Simon Marc has been appointed principal.

Espalioux is currently the chairman and CEO of Financière Agache Private Equity. He was previously deputy managing director and CFO of Compagnie Générale des Eaux, now Veolia Environnement. He was also chairman of the management board of Accor as well as director of a number of French companies including Air France-KLM.

With 12 years of private equity experience, Marc was previously a director at Candover in the firm’s London and Paris offices. He also spent six years at Apax Partners and three years at Goldman Sachs.