London-based fund manager Europa Capital has appointed four new directors and taken on new staff as it looks to grow its business in 2015.

London-based fund manager Europa Capital has appointed four new directors and taken on new staff as it looks to grow its business in 2015.

James Fortescue, who joined the company in 2008 focusing on new investments in the UK, Benelux and Nordic region, and Hugo Black, who arrived in 2010 from DTZ Corporate Finance specialising in asset management in Southern Europe, have been promoted to director, along with Helen Muir and Tom Vail.

James Brodie, James Farmer, Kerry Noonan and James Pennington have been promoted to associate director.

Europa Capital has also recruited George Minns as a senior associate on the Southern Europe acquisitions team and Gergely Koos-Hutas as asset manager for Germany and France. Jack McCarron and Suhui Wang have joined to provide analytical support to the acquisition teams, while Fiona Clark, Richard Mason, Nayan Mistry, Mark Pennington, Melissa Porteous and Thomas Wayling have joined the finance teams.

Europa Capital concluded almost €1.5 bn worth of transactions during 2014, including disposals amounting to €1.2 bn. Major deals included the disposal of a new 58,000 m2 shopping centre in Poznan, Poland, the sale of the BBVA leaseback portfolio to Spanish socimi Merlin Properties for €740 mln, and the acquisition of a shopping centre in Milan, Italy, for €81.6 mln.