The Annual Private Equity Europe Forum, Dorchester

Oliver Haarmann, Founding Partner, Searchlight Capital Partners

Mr. Haarmann is a Founding Partner of Searchlight, and is jointly responsible for overseeing the Firm’s activities with the two other Founding Partners. Mr. Haarmann is a member of the Boards of Hunter Boot and EOLO. Prior to co-founding Searchlight, Mr. Haarmann was a partner of KKR & Co L.P. (“KKR”) in London. He serves as a trustee of Surgo Foundation, IntoUniversity, and ArtAngel. He graduated from Brown University with BA degrees in International Relations and History and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Tope Lawani, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Helios Investment Partners

Mr Lawani, a Nigerian national, is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Helios and has 24 years of principal investment experience. Prior to forming Helios, he was a Principal in the San Francisco and London offices of TPG Capital, a leading global private equity firm managing over $70 billion in capital. At TPG Mr. Lawani had a lead role in the execution of over $10 billion worth of closed venture capital and leveraged buyout investments, including the acquisitions of Burger King Corp., Debenhams plc., J. Crew Group, and Scottish & Newcastle Retail. He began his career as a Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Development Analyst at the Walt Disney Company. Mr. Lawani serves on the Boards of Directors of Helios Towers Africa Limited, Mall for Africa, Axxela, ZOLA Electric, OVH Energy and Vivo Energy.

Paweł Gieryński, Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer and Board Member, Abris Capital Partners

Paweł Gieryński is the Managing Partner of Abris Capital Partners. He has over 20 years of experience in private equity and asset management in CEE. Paweł joined Abris at its inception in 2007 and has been instrumental in the developments of its activities across the region. He has been focusing on structuring and leading an efficient investment practice, building at the same time a strong network within regional business communities. His investment philosophy is based on two fundamental ideas: creativity and trust. He believes that making deals is not only about signing bullet-proof contracts but about establishing relationships that could lead to building leading businesses of the region. Prior to Abris, Pawel was a Partner at Copernicus Capital group with a responsibility for the mass privatisation funds. Additionally, Pawel has held many C-suit positions including COO of Mostostal Warszawa SA and CFO of Carli Gry Polska. He also served as President of the Polish Private Equity Association.

Christophe Bavière, CEO and Founding Partner at Idinvest Partners

CEO of Idinvest Partners since 2001, Christophe Bavière actively heads all investment activities and chairs the Investment Committees.

Prior to joining Idinvest Partners, Christophe Bavière held senior positions within the AGF-Allianz Group, as CIO of Allianz Private Equity Partners and as CEO of Allianz Global Investors. Previously, Christophe Bavière had worked at the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations as well as BNP Paribas. In the late nineties, he was instrumental in developing private equity as a separate asset class within the balanced portfolios under his management and in 1997 he sponsored the establishing of Idinvest Partners (formerly AGF Private Equity).

Christophe Bavière is a Board Member of the AFG, the French Asset Management professional association. Until 2015, Christophe Bavière was Vice President of AFIC, the French private equity professional association. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the French Regulator Authority (AMF) and is a Colonel in the French Air Force Reserve.

Christophe Bavière holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa and a business degree from ESLSCA, Paris. He is also a certified actuary of the French Institut des Actuaires. In 2007, he was elected "Private Equity Personality of the year" by Capital Finance Les Echos.