West Finalizes Plans For Euro 400M Venture –

West Private Equity, the new private equity arm of WestLB, has finalized plans for the launch of its pan-European fund and revealed the identity of its third principal, Michael Paetsch, who will head the group’s German advisory company, West Private Capital.

Paetsch has a strong telecommunications background, having spent eight years at Siemens and o.tel.o, the joint venture between VEBA and RWE. Chief Executive Philip Buscombe, formerly of Investcorp International, and managing director Jeremy Hand, formerly of Duke Street Capital, head the London team.

The target set for the vehicle is euro 400 million ($424 million), a figure that is consistent with the fund’s middle-market focus. As expected, WestLB has made a substantial contribution, providing the fund with euro 140 million of initial capital.

Citigroup’s Salomon Smith Barney has been appointed external placement agent and will begin marketing the effort to institutions in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East this month.

West Private Equity will target buyout and expansion capital opportunities among businesses in the euro 25 million to euro 250 million value range. Reflecting the specific expertise of its senior executives, the fund likely will favor four key sectors: business support services; information technology, telecommunications and media; consumer products and services; and special-situation industrials. This focus is not, however, exclusive, and the vehicle will invest opportunistically across a broad range of industry sectors.

Germany will be one of the fund’s principal target markets, given the strength of WestLB’s domestic network. West Private Equity’s other primary markets will be the U.K., the Benelux nations, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The fund also may invest in France, Spain and Scandinavia.

The new effort is not unprecedented for WestLB. The group was founding sponsor of the CWB private equity business, which eventually became Doughty Hanson & Co.