About us
PMB Capital’s clients are industrial families, business owners and entrepreneurs. We are a merchant bank. We sit on the client side of the table. We are dedicated to helping our clients achieve their strategic and financial objectives. We have revived the merchant banking tradition of occasionally underwriting and investing alongside our clients. We operate globally from our offices in London, Frankfurt and Luxembourg.
We are advisors and investors.
PMB Advisory
Our advisory offering is focused on M&A and the provision of private investment capital. Where appropriate we will assist our clients in engaging with larger or specialist firms to enhance the execution of a particular mandate.
We are supported by a number of deeply expert Senior Advisors, chosen for their specific domain expertise as well as their knowledge of, and access to, influential decision takers in selected regions of the world.
Many of our advisory clients are both business owners and investors, and we have facilitated a significant volume, over USD 1 billion, of direct equity investment within this community over the past years. This results from the expressed preference of both sides for the “private to private” market avoiding the exigencies of private equity.
PMB Invest
Given our success in sourcing attractive opportunities for our clients, we have chosen to establish our own vehicle, PMB Invest. The purpose of PMB Invest is to commit capital alongside our clients in some of the most exciting transactions we encounter through our proprietary deal flow.
PMB Invest makes minority investments alongside lead investors we trust, who deliver both diligence expertise and a clearly defined positive impact on the underlying business via their sector knowledge and market position.
We are currently investing out of Fund I, with equity cheques of €5-15m from the fund and up to €100m, including co-investment from our investors.
Meet the team
Richard Briance
Co-Chairman
Richard Briance is a founding member of PMB Capital with many years of experience in the banking world. He was previously Chief Executive of Edmond de Rothschild Limited, the UK subsidiary of the Geneva-based banking group (2010-2015). He was Chief Executive and latterly Deputy Chairman of Hawkpoint Partners (1999-2010).
Prior to joining Hawkpoint Richard had twenty-five years’ international investment banking experience, as Chief Executive of WestMerchant Bank, Vice Chairman and global head of fixed income at UBS and Managing Director at Credit Suisse First Boston. He has served on the board of Mint Hotels and Oxford Analytica.
Richard has a wealth of experience in the charitable sector, having served as a trustee of Policy Exchange; as Chairman of Trinity Hospice, the UK’s oldest hospice; as a trustee of Floreat Education and on the board of trustees at the London Children’s Ballet. Richard is on the board of trustees at the Legatum Institute, an international think tank based in London, and is Chairman of the Kensington and Chelsea Foundation.
Richard is married to Lucille, who founded London Children’s Ballet over 25 years ago. He has four grown up children and divides his time between London, Gloucestershire and Nantucket (sadly not much of his time).
Christoph Ladanyi
Managing Partner
Christoph Ladanyi’s focus area at PMB Capital is on corporate finance, alternative assets and direct investments.
Previously he was founding partner of Edmond de Rothschild Private Merchant Banking LLP (2012-2015). Before that he was Managing Director of Barclays Wealth and Head of the European Private Wealth business of Lehman Brothers (2004-2011).
Prior to that he was Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs in London and Frankfurt (1990-2000); and Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Merrill Lynch in New York (1985-1989).
Christoph has structured and implemented numerous direct investments in the alternative asset space in sectors such as Bio-tech, Software, Alternative Energy, Forestry and the Art Market both for clients and on his own account. He sits on several boards and advisory committees.
Konstantin Mettenheimer
Co-Chairman
Konstantin Mettenheimer advises international business owners, families and investors on strategic and investment issues long term and with a keen eye for business and family issues alike. He offers an uncommon blend of successful leadership and advice and sits on the board of some privately owned businesses and private trust companies.
Konstantin was previously Chairman of Edmond de Rothschild Group in Germany and partner of Edmond de Rothschild Private Merchant Banking LLP, London (2013-2015). Prior to that he was global chairman (Senior Partner) of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, the international law firm with 5,000 employees. Under his leadership the firm almost doubled profit per share. He had joined the firm in 1986.
With an MBA from Wharton and as a qualified lawyer and tax adviser in Germany he combines a deep knowledge of commercial and legal issues. He received his doctoral degree at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1987. He is Chairman of Common Purpose Germany and member of the Kuratorium of the Goethe University Frankfurt. He was awarded the medal of honour by Bucerius Law School in 2008. Married, with three children, Konstantin also served as an officer in the Bundeswehr and the US National Guard.
He speaks English, French and German, and is married to Dorothée, a practicing lawyer. Together they have three children and share a passion for horses – Dorothée favours dressage, whereas Konstantin is very much a cross-country and hunting man.
Henrik Schliemann
Managing Partner
Henrik Schliemann has been advising international families and business owners on corporate finance, structuring and strategic initiatives for over 25 years.
He was previously a founding partner of Edmond de Rothschild Private Merchant Banking LLP (2013-2015) and before that Head of International at Hawkpoint Partners (2001-2012). Prior to joining Hawkpoint, Henrik worked in investment banking as Managing Director at Merrill Lynch (1998-2000), Director at Baring Brothers (1994-1997) and Vice President at JPMorgan (1988-1993).
Henrik sits on a number of family advisory boards, is a director of Iridium Communications Inc. and is a trustee of the Philip Breuel Stiftung, a charity supporting children from deprived backgrounds in his native town of Hamburg. Henrik received his BA in economics and finance from the University of Pennsylvania where he currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Huntsman Program for Business and International Studies.
Henrik is married to Joana, a producer of films and cultural content, with whom he has three (fairly) grown up daughters. He divides his time between homes in London and Provence and far too much time at airports.
Benno von Buchwaldt
Director
Benno joined PMB Capital in June 2018. Prior to joining PMB Capital, Benno founded a Fintech business and worked at EQT Partners, focusing on private equity investments in midmarket companies in the DACH region.
He started his career at J.P.Morgan in Mergers & Acquisitions in Frankfurt and has graduated from Zeppelin Universität.
Benno is married to Nina, who co-founded the art project Various Others Munich. They have two daughters.
Kenia Espinal
Office Manager
Kenia joined PMB in March 2022 as an Office Manager. Previously, she worked at Caxton Europe Asset Management and Aviva.
Kenia is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian, she has a BS (Hons) in Economy and Management (Italy) and a BSc (Hons) in Industrial Engineering (Honduras).
She has a profound interest in social and humanitarian causes. In Honduras, she has helped children in disadvantaged areas to contribute to their education and sports. In the UK, she has worked in homeless shelters. Kenia dreams in future to setup a charity to support children from deprived backgrounds.
Being Latin-American, she also enjoys dancing and is passionate about food
Joff Evans
Director
Joff joined PMB Capital in 2015 as the business was being set up following independence from EDR. He works on PMB’s corporate finance projects and has been heavily involved in the development of PMB Invest.
Prior to PMB, Joff worked at BlackRock Private Equity Partners (2010–2015) in New York, London and Zurich as a Vice President, focused on making minority private equity investments alongside leading global sponsors. Whilst at BlackRock, he spent 2010 in Austin, Texas assisting the Texas Teachers Retirement System (TRS) investing from their $5bn direct private equity co-investment programme.
Joff started his career in investment banking with Goldman Sachs (2008-2010) in London in the UK M&A team. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin.
Joff has a North American wife, Jamie, one child and two disappointingly small dogs.
Richard Rohla-Strauss
Associate
Richard joined PMB Capital in April 2022 after previously completing an internship with the firm in 2018. Prior to joining PMB, Richard worked at Evercore in Private Capital Advisory, focusing on M&A and fund transactions in private capital markets.
He holds a master’s in Law (Magister juris) from the University of Vienna, and two master’s degrees from IE University in Madrid in Economics and Computer Science.
Richard is engaged and lives in London. He undoubtedly has the most boring dual nationality in the world, being both Austrian and German.
Charles Rose
Senior Associate
Charles joined PMB Capital in November 2019 as an Associate having previously spent four years at PwC in London.
Whilst obtaining his Chartered Accountancy qualification, he specialised in the mid-market space, working with a variety of clients, from private equity backed early growth businesses to FTSE 250 constituents.
Since joining PMB, Charles has worked on a number of capital advisory projects, as well as forming part of the PMB Invest fund team. He graduated from the University of Exeter.
Charles is an avid sports fan and art lover; often trying to ease his frustrations from the golf course by drifting around exhibitions. Sadly, he’s also a season ticket holder at Chelsea FC.
John Blaffer Royall
Director
Born in New York, John has 25 years of experience serving in a number of private equity, operating and corporate finance roles. John previously worked in private equity at Adelphi Securities, Health Enterprise Partners and Credit Suisse (DLJ Merchant Banking). John also served as the CFO of Time Link International Corp, a New York-based provider of enterprise software solutions. He started his career as an M&A analyst at UBS Warburg.
John is a board member of Texas Gulf Bank, the Blaffer Museum and the Blessed Foundation. He has produced several global art initiatives and documentary films including the Antarctic Biennale and Culturunners. John holds a BBA in Finance and a BS in Economics from Southern Methodist University and an MBA with distinction from Columbia Business School.
John lives in London with his wife Céliane and son William.
George Teakle
Senior Associate
George joined PMB Capital in January 2023. Prior to joining, George was Head of Finance at a B2B software business and consulted for a family office, as well as several start-ups.
He started his career at Credit Suisse, working in the UK Investment Banking team.
He graduated from the University of Edinburgh, and before that grew up in the United States.
Alexandra Westergaard
Operations Manager
Alexandra joined PMB Capital in January 2023 as an Operations Manager, she previously worked as an Operations Manager in a Data and Analytics environment.
Originally from Finland, where she studied Art and Psychology, Alexandra enjoys travelling in her spare time.
Advisors
Michael Dobson
After graduating in 1973 from Trinity College, Cambridge with a degree in Modern Languages, he joined the merchant bank Morgan Grenfell, initially as an equity research analyst before moving into portfolio management. He held various positions at Morgan Grenfell including Head of the US and Head of Asset Management, before becoming Deputy Chief Executive in 1988 and Chief Executive in 1989.
Following Deutsche Bank’s acquisition of Morgan Grenfell in 1990 he was responsible for the bank’s Global Investment Banking business from 1993, joining the Board of Managing Directors of Deutsche Bank in 1996. In 1998 he took responsibility for Deutsche Bank’s Global Asset Management business.
He left Deutsche Bank in 2000 and was the Founder and Chairman of Beaumont Capital Management, a hedge fund and high net worth asset management business. Beaumont was acquired by Schroders in November 2001. He was Chief Executive of Schroders plc from 2001-2016 and was appointed Chairman in April 2016.
Previous outside positions include Chairman of the Investment Board of the Cambridge University Endowment Fund, a member of the Advisory Committee of the IMF Staff Retirement Plan and a member of the FCA Practitioner Panel.
Simon Marshall-Lockyer
After graduating in 1987 with an MSc in Economics from the University of Louvain, Simon joined merchant bank Schroders as an equity analyst. His core focus was primarily equity research, principally covering industries within the consumer spheres, and the companies that comprise them. His extensive research publication record led him to service major institutional investors across the world and undertake advisory roles in Mergers & Acquisitions and Equity Capital Markets. Simon ran equity research and sales teams at Kleinwort Benson, Bankers Trust, Bear Stearns and Jefferies, and founded several investment banking operations abroad between 1996 – 2006.
In 2013, Simon shifted his focus to private equity as a director of Adrien Invest, a private Belgian investment group. He is also a member of the Board of Planet First Partners (GP) and an Executive Director of Pamber Capital Ltd.
Vikram Mehta
Vikram joined PMB as an advisor in 2019, bringing with him a wealth of experience from a long-standing career.
Prior to advising PMB Capital, Vikram held the position of Chairman of the Shell Group in India (1994-2012). Vikram began his career with the Indian Civil Service (1978-1980), after which he joined Phillips Petroleum in London (1980-1984), before returning to India as an advisor to Oil India (1984-1988).
Vikram currently serves as an independent director of several companies including Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Colgate Palmolive India Ltd, and Apollo Tyres.
Vikram was the Executive Chairman of Brookings India and Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution from 2012 to 2020 when Brookings India transitioned to the “Center for Social and Economic Progress“ , of which he is currently the Chairman. He also sits on the Board of Overseers for the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and on the Global Advisory Board of Macro Advisory Partners.
Alan Morgan
Alan is an experienced investor in FinTech through Adfisco where his portfolio includes Funding Circle, Ebury, Cleo, Tide and more.
He is also the co-founder and Chairman of VC firm MMC Ventures, one of the leading VC investors in UK. Alan spent 28 years at McKinsey & Co where he was head of the financial services practice in the UK, Europe and Middle East. He was also a Board member of the McKinsey investment office.
Alan has an MA in Law from Trinity College, Oxford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a qualified barrister.
Al-Noor Ramji
Al-Noor is a veteran Chief Information Officer, Board Advisor, and Entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience driving digital strategy and transformation for global enterprises.
Al-Noor was appointed as an Independent Director at TATA Motors on May 1, 2022.
Prior to joining Prudential plc in 2016, Al-Noor was chief strategy officer of Calypso Technology, Inc., a global application software provider. From April 2010 to June 2013, he was the executive vice president and general manager at Misys Banking, a mid-size software company that serves the financial services industry.
From May 2004 to March 2010, he served in various executive roles at British Telecom, most recently as chief executive officer for BT Innovate and Design and Chief Information Officer of BT Group plc. Prior to British Telecom, Al-Noor was Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and Chief e-commerce Officer for Qwest Communications. Al-Noor has also served as Chief Information Officer at UBS and prior to UBS, as global head of operations at Credit Suisse First Boston.
Al-Noor was also the founder and from 1998-2001, Group CEO of WebTek Software, one of the most successful software houses in India.
Al-Noor holds a BSc in Electronics from the University of London, is a Chartered Financial Analyst, and has been multi-year recipient a of the CIO 100 Award, CIO Insight IT Leader of the Year 2009, and the British Computer Society CIO of the Year
Michael Schulhof
Michael P. Schulhof advises PMB Capital in the aerospace, media and technology sectors.
Mickey served as the President and Chief Executive of the Sony Music Corporation from 1990-95, and is presently the Chairman of GTI Holdings, a New York based private equity and advisory firm. He currently sits on several boards, including Airworks, Anyclip, Ziff Davis, Nova Medical Centres, AirLivery, Xerys Capital and Biolog ID.
Mickey’s experience in technologically driven fields comes from his STEM background, having trained as a physicist with 27 published papers and 1 patent. He received an honorary doctorate from Grinell College, in addition to his Ph.D. from Brandeis University.
Mickey serves on the Board of Trustees of the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation and the Brookings institute, and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. Mickey has received the Officier de la Legion D’Honneur in recognition of his work promoting commerce and understanding between the U.S. and France.
Jens Tholstrup
Jens is Managing Director of Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION), Development Director SQW Group and Senior Advisor, Oxford Economics.
Previously, he was Managing Director UK of Oxford Economics, Executive Director of Oxford Analytica and Executive Director UBS.
Jens holds a MA in PPE and an MSc in Economic History, both from the University of Oxford. Jens is a trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Director of Venturefest Oxford, Visiting Business Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University, a governor of St Clare’s, Oxford and a Trustee of Charity Mentors Oxfordshire. He is a member of the Society of Business Economists (SBE).
Alessandro Tomé
Senior Advisor
Having started his career in Geneva at a family wealth management firm, Alessandro did a spell at Drexel Burnham Lambert and Private Merchant Bank, Robert Fraser & Partners after which he worked for a family office originating, executing, and managing investments in multiple sectors such as natural waste recycling, fish farming, and oil and gas exploration. With over twenty-five years in the financial services and banking industries, Alessandro spent fifteen years, latterly as a Partner, with third-party alternative investment distribution firm, Anchor Asset Management.
More recently, Alessandro was a Senior Advisor for Canaccord Genuity across their three Divisions of M&A Advisory, Capital Markets and Wealth Management in the UK and Europe, as well as strategic advisor with Amius, a leading provider of bespoke structured products in the soft commodities space and their managed ETF portfolio offering.
He is currently Industrial Advisor with InvestIndustrial, a leading family-controlled European PE which is active in numerous sectors including consumer, hospitality, and design, with notable assets such as B&B Italia/Floss/Louis Poulsen, Chicco/Artsana, Sergio Rossi and the PortAventura Park Resort. He is Vice-Chairman of the British style-setting interiors brand OKA, as well as director of Morgan Motor Company, Chairman of Universal Clinics (a holding company for several pan-European fertility clinics) in addition to other portfolio companies in the bio-polymers and fast food sectors.
He is also Strategic Advisor to a large Italian family investment vehicle with particular emphasis on strategic PE investments and partnerships, alongside a network of other like-minded family investors. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Inherent Group, a New-York-based, privately held Impact Investor in both private and public markets. He is advising MiddleLand, a US-European Food and Ag Tech investment group. Finally, he sits on the GP Board Strategic Advisor of the cyber-security and cloud innovation investor C5 Capital.
Ian Molson
Independent Chairman
R. Ian Molson was born and grew up in Montreal, Canada and is currently a director of a number of private equity, investment and other companies which include Cayzer Continuation PCC Ltd, Central European Petroleum Ltd (Deputy Chairman), Healthpoint Capital LLC, JCB Service and RM2 (Chairman).
Ian served as Chairman of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Marsden Hospital Charity from 2010 to 2016. From 1999 to 2004, he was deputy chairman of the board and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Molson Inc., a Canadian public corporation founded in 1786. Between 1977 and 1997, he was employed by Credit Suisse First Boston, one of the leading investment banking and securities firms in the world. From 1993 to 1997, he served as co-Head of their Investment Banking Department in Europe, a position which encompassed all corporate finance, corporate advisory, mergers and acquisitions businesses in Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East.
He graduated from Harvard University (BA Honors) in 1977.
Dominic Shorthouse
Independent Member
Dominic has a long history in private equity. He is currently an active private investor based in London.
Dominic was founder and managing partner of the mid-market private equity firm, Englefield Capital from inception in 2001 until its sale in 2010 to the Brenninkmeijer family. Prior to founding Englefield Capital he was a partner of Warburg Pincus & Co. and co-head of their European business for many years. As an investor, he has been involved in most sectors of the economy and invested in businesses at all stages of development. As a board member, Dominic has played a role on more than 50 boards based in the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Ireland, China and the U.S. He started his career at Morgan Stanley in London.
Dominic graduated from Oxford University with an MA in Latin and Greek Literature and Philosophy, and has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition to his business activities, Dominic is Deputy Chair of The Anna Freud Centre serving child and adolescent mental health.