ALPHA is a fully independent company owned by its team. The team has worked together for a number of years and is made up of a group of specialized individuals with expertise in private equity, corporate finance, consulting, law, tax and audit with considerable experience in all aspects of the management of private equity portfolios.

Peter Derendinger

Partner, CEO. Peter led the management buyout of ALPHA Associates and leads the strategy and operations of ALPHA Associates. Previously he was Member and Delegate of the Swiss Life Private Equity Partners (SLPEP) Board of Directors and responsible for the operations of the company from May 2003. Prior to this he was an independent finance and law consultant. After starting his career as an attorney-at-law, Peter held several positions with Credit Suisse. His latest assignment was Chief Financial Officer and Head Corporate Center at Credit Suisse Private Banking. Earlier appointments at Credit Suisse include Managing Director and General Counsel of Credit Suisse Group, and Head of Legal and Tax at Credit Suisse First Boston (Europe) AG. He is, i.a., a member of the board of Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft Laufenburg and Bank Sarasin.

Petra Salesny

Partner, COO. Petra joined ALPHA Associates from SLPEP where she served as Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for all legal, tax, corporate and regulatory matters of the investment programs managed by SLPEP and the investment portfolios from due diligence to exit. Petra worked on the refinancing of Private Equity Holding, various secondary transactions and the restructuring of a number of portfolio investments. Previously she was the legal advisor to the private equity team at Vontobel. Prior to this, Petra was an M&A consultant at Helbling CFT International Ltd. in Düsseldorf and Zurich, where she structured an coordinated cross-boarder transactions of mid-sized companies. Petra is admitted to the New York Bar and holds a Master Laws from New York University School of Law. She graduated from the Law School of the University of Vienna and received a Ph.D. in law from the University of Basel.

Christoph Huber

Partner, CFO. Christoph served as Chief Financial Officer of SLPEP before joining ALPHA Associates. Previously he was responsible for finance and controlling at the private equity unit of Vontobel and Chief Financial Officer of Private Equity Holding AG and 5E Holding AG. Prior to this Christoph held positions as Chief Financial Officer of Allreal Group and as Head of New Business Financial Controlling at Credit Suisse First Boston. He started his career as an auditor for the banking and services industry at Arthur Andersen, Zurich. Christoph holds a diploma in economics from the University of Applied Sciences, St. Gallen, and is a Swiss Certified Public Accountant.

Petr Rojicek

Partner, CIO. Petr joined ALPHA Associates from SLPEP where he was Chief Investment Officer and responsible for the investment portfolios of Private Equity Holding, 5E Holding, ALPHA 2001, and the substantial proprietary Swiss Life private equity program. Prior to this he was a member of the private equity team at Vontobel dedicated to the investment and management of 5E Holding. He serves on the advisory board of several private equity partnerships. Previously he worked in investment banking at UBS, Zurich and London, where he was engaged in corporate finance transactions for financial institutions in emerging markets. He began his career in the construction industry and later on worked for American Appraisal, a worldwide valuation consulting firm, in Prague. Petr holds a M.Sc. degree from the Czech Technical University of Prague and an MBA from the Simon School of the University of Rochester, USA.

Guy Myint-Maung

Partner, Investments. Guy joined ALPHA Associates from SLPEP where he was an investment manager and principal since 2000 and responsible for making and managing investments in a number of private equity partnerships and companies with a focus on life science investments. He serves on the advisory board of several private equity partnerships. His previous assignment was with Centre Solutions Zurich, an Alternative Risk Transfer specialist and subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services. Guy spent 4 years at UBS in Switzerland, predominantly in business analysis and controlling functions, at first at the European operations level, and latterly at global level for the corporate banking and corporate finance division. Guy holds a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Sussex, an MBA from Manchester Business School and is a CFA charterholder.

Daniela Hauenstein

Partner, Investments. Daniela joined ALPHA Associates in October 2004 from a family office, where she was an investment analyst focusing on alternative investments and a member of the investment committee responsible for strategic and tactical asset allocation. Prior to this, she was a director at Millenium Associates working on M&A projects in the financial services sector. Daniela spent three years at UBS in Switzerland, where her last assignment was to evaluate and execute M&A projects for the bank in the area of global private banking and institutional asset management. Daniela holds a Master's Degree in Finance from the University of Zurich.

Richard Seewald

Partner, Investments. Richard has been originating, analyzing, structuring, negotiating and executing private equity investments in the Central European region since 1999. He has been involved in the region since 1990 and prior to joining ALPHA Associates in 2005 was a partner at Benson Oak, a Central European investment banking/private equity group, where he focused on growth capital and buyout opportunities. He participated in investment transactions in the banking sector, TMT sectors, automotive industry and in the retail sector. Earlier in his career, Richard was an associate at CMS Cameron McKenna, a London based international law firm, where he advised on privatizations, mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions while based in the Prague offices. Richard holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, a Doctorate in Law from the New York Law School and a B.A., Business, from Pace University.

Henry Potter

Partner, Investments. Henry Potter joined Alpha Associates in September 2008 from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. Henry has been investing in private investments and private equity funds in central Europe and CIS since 1994. He participated in a number of groundbreaking transactions in the region, including bank privatisations and turnarounds. He has served on investment committees and advisory boards of many of the region

Giovanni Locatelli

Senior Advisor, Investments. Giovanni is advising ALPHA Associates on private equity investments. He serves on the advisory board of several private equity partnerships and he is a board member of Minicap Technology AG. Giovanni

Kurt Geiger

Special Advisor and Chairman of the Advisory Board of ALPHA Associates. Kurt joined ALPHA Associates after a distinguished career of 35 years in international finance with Chase, HSBC and the last 15 years with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), London. As Head of Financial Institutions and Chairman of the EBRD

Peter Wolfers

Investor Services. Peter joined ALPHA Associates in February 2010 from Horizon21, a Swiss investment manager with a focus on alternative investments, where he was an investment professional for private equity investments in Europe across all investment stages, including secondary and co-investment transactions. He was responsible for the origination, due diligence and monitoring of investments and served on several fund advisory boards. Peter started his career at Alpha Associates as a member of the investment team, first as Analyst and later as Associate. His tasks included due diligence on private equity funds and the monitoring of investments in the US, Western Europe and Central & Eastern Europe. Peter graduated from the University of Zurich and holds a M.Sc. in Economics and Business Administration.