Paul-Noël Guély

Managing Partner

Founder and Managing Partner of the firm. Previously was a senior Technology banker with Goldman Sachs, responsible for some of the firm’s largest European clients, headed up Lehman Brothers' European Technology Group, and worked in M&A for Morgan Grenfell & Co. (now Deutsche Bank). Paul has for over 20 years executed M&A and capital-raising transactions for established companies such as SAP, Software AG and STMicroelectronics, as well as emerging leaders, several of which he has taken public (LSE listing of Autonomy, NASDAQ listing of Baltimore Technologies, Frankfurt IPO of Software AG, etc.).

To email Paul-Noël please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8103

John Meehan

Partner

Founding member of Arma Partners. Previous experience includes seven years working in the investment banking divisions of Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and BZW in London, New York and Paris with a particular focus on the technology sector. With Arma John focuses in particular on the Financial Technology sector, and heads the firm’s activities in this area.

John is a graduate of University College Dublin (Ireland) where he received a BComm International. He also holds the Diplôme d’HEC (France). John speaks French.

To email John please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8108

James Schroder

Partner

Joined Arma Partners in 2008. Previously was a senior Technology banker with Lehman Brothers and Montgomery with over 15 years of investment banking and professional experience in Silicon Valley, New York and London. Successfully led $30 billion in M&A and $3 billion in IPO and capital raising transactions for large cap and growth technology companies in the US, Europe and Asia. Earlier in his career he was a Strategy Consultant and served as a Nuclear Submarine Officer on board a fast attack nuclear submarine.

Jim holds an MBA from Yale University, a BS in Systems Engineering from the US Naval Academy (Annapolis) and an advanced program in Nuclear Engineering. He speaks fluent German.

To email James please click here
Tel: +1 650 798 1198

Tom Wells

Partner

Joined Arma Partners in 2009. Previously with Merrill Lynch, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Telecom Investment Banking for Europe, the Middle East & Africa, based in London. Prior to that Tom was a Managing Director in the European Telecom Investment Banking team at Citigroup. Before Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, Tom was Head of Corporate Finance for British Telecom. During his 15 years working within the telecom sector Tom has advised many of the leading operators on over $150 billion worth of transactions, including BT, O2, Cable & Wireless, BSkyB, Deutsche Telekom, TDC, TeliaSonera, Belgacom, KPN, Telekom Austria, Portugal Telecom, MTN, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile and MegaFon.

Tom began his career with Coopers & Lybrand, in Toronto and in London, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Financial Analyst after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queens University in Kingston, Canada.

To email Tom please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8114

Eric Lawson-Smith

Partner

Joined Arma Partners in 2009. Most recently, Eric has advised on the EUR 200m sale of PriceMinister (France) to Rakuten (Japan). Prior to Arma, he was Managing Director and Head of European Digital Media at Jefferies. Previously one of the founding partners and a Managing Director of LongAcre Partners for 7 years where he was responsible for a number of high-profile digital media transactions including the sales of Friends Reunited, uSwitch and Datamonitor and the acquisitions of Emap by Guardian Media Group / Apax and VNU Business Media Europe by 3i. Eric has also led financings for a large number of Europes most successful digital media companies, including Seatwave, Moneybookers, DailyMotion and The Mill. Prior to LongAcre, Eric was a Principal at Broadview and Vice President at JP Morgan. Eric began his career with Prudential Investment Corporation in New York, completing investments for that group in a number of media properties.

Eric holds an MA Hons in Economics and Fitzpatrick Scholarship from Queens College, Cambridge University.

To email Eric please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8100

Adam de Courcy Ling

Senior Managing Director

Joined the firm in November 2003. Previously head of Credit Suisse First Boston’s European technology M&A practice from 2000 to 2003. Advised Sema in its $5.5 billion sale to Schlumberger and Freeserve in its $2.2 billion sale to Wanadoo. Spent 12 years as a mergers and acquisitions banker at CSFB, becoming a managing director in 1998. Prior to 2000, led the bank’s M&A advisory practice in Germany, advising clients such as Chrysler (on its $38 billion merger with Daimler-Benz), Thyssen (on its $3 billion merger with Hoesch-Krupp) and Deutsche Post. Also spent 10 months in 2003 working for the UK government on the $8 billion financial restructuring of British Energy.

To email Adam please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8110

Stephen Smith

Senior Managing Director

Joined Arma Partners in September 2006. Previously, spent 14 years at Broadview, the technology and media focused M&A advisory firm, where he was Vice Chairman, served on the management committee and led the Silicon Valley M&A advisory team as well as the global practice group in the infrastructure sectors of the IT market. During that time, he was involved in deals such as EMC’s $250 million acquisition of McData, the $7 billion sale of Burr-Brown to TI, the $2.6 billion acquisition of PairGain by ADC and the $120 million recapitalization of E-Tek Dynamics by Summit Partners. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at McKinsey, Fairchild and Amdahl and was CEO of Reference Technology. Since Broadview, he has been a Managing Director with The Interim CEO Network and has recruited numerous CEOs to technology companies. He retains an affiliation with the Interim CEO Network.

Steve holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.

To email Stephen please click here
Tel: +1 650 798 1193

David Sola

Senior Managing Director

Joined Arma Partners in 2007. Previously, spent 7 years building, managing and realising the Softbank Europe Ventures portfolio of early-stage technology companies. Prior to Softbank, he was Co-Head of Mergers & Acquisitions, Europe at UBS Investment Bank, and over nine years was the lead M&A banker on over $55 billion of completed transactions. He also served as Assistant to the CEO and Chairman of SG Warburg, and to the CEO of SBC Warburg. Earlier in his career he worked in First Bostons M&A Group in New York, and with the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

David holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an AB Physics from Princeton University. He is dual US/UK national and is admitted to the New York Bar.

To email David please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8104

Rex Golding

Senior Managing Director

Joined Arma Partners in 2009. Previously, spent over 7 years as Managing Director of Mobius Venture Capital, investing in software, security and Web-based companies and achieving a number of successful M&A exits. Prior to Mobius, Rex was Co-Head of the Technology Banking Group at Morgan Stanley, where he oversaw over $20 billion of IPOs and other public financings, advised on over $150 billion of M&A transactions and personally led a number of high-profile transactions for Amazon.com, Microsoft, Netscape, Oracle, Verisign, and many other premier technology companies globally. Before Morgan Stanley, Rex was a technology entrepreneur at the 3DO Company and OnLive! Technologies. Earlier in his career Rex was an investment banker at Volpe, Welty & Co., E.F. Hutton & Co., and Salomon Brothers Inc.

Rex holds an MBA with honors from the Harvard Business School and an A.B. cum laude in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College. He also attended the California Institute of Technology and George Washington University.

To email Rex please click here
Tel: +1 650 798 1196

Markus Salolainen

Senior Managing Director

Joined Arma Partners in April 2009 from Straumur, the Nordic merchant bank, where he was Managing Director from 2007 to 2009 and originated and closed LBO transactions, secondary private equity deals and M&A transactions, with a strong focus on Technology and Telecoms. From 2000 to 2007, Markus was a General Partner at Nokia Growth Partners, leveraging the funds close relationship with the Nokia organisation, and a Principal at BlueRun Ventures. Select investments included Bitboys (acquired by ATI), Heptagon, Coding Technologies (acquired by Dolby), Sasken (IPO in India), Enpocket (acquired by Nokia), Wavemarket, Frontier Silicon and Cerebra (acquired by webMethods). From 1994 to 2000, Markus was an investment banker with UBS and HSBC based in London, for which he covered Nordic and European markets and focused on Technology & Telecoms transactions.

Markus holds a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He speaks native Finnish.

To email Markus please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8115

Keith Robinson

Managing Director

Joined Arma Partners in August 2004. Previous experience includes strategic consulting in the Market & Business Strategy practice of Gartner, technology consulting with Scient Corporation in New York and Tokyo, and investment banking with JPMorgan. Keiths current focus areas include Enterprise Software, Mobile Value-added Services, and Internet / eCommerce.

Keith received a B.S. in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from INSEAD.

To email Keith please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8105

Matthew Gehl

Managing Director

Joined Arma Partners in September 2006. Previously, was the senior analyst for the technology hardware sector at Goldman Sachs in London. Spent 7+ years with Goldman Sachs, including 2 years in New York and 2 years in Frankfurt, before moving to London. He was a ranked analyst in the Greenwich Associates investor poll for the European Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment sector.

Matt holds a dual MBA from Columbia Business School and The London Business School and a BBA in finance and accounting from the University of Wisconsin. He is a dual US/UK national.

To email Matthew please click here
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7290 8107

Stewart Hindley

Vice President

Joined Arma Partners in 2010. Previously, was a Vice President at Montgomery & Co., where he focused on M&A advisory services for technology companies. He has nine years of investment banking experience and has led numerous successful transactions to both strategic and financial buyers across the technology and Internet sectors.

Stewart holds a BS in Management Science from UC San Diego (summa cum laude). He is a dual citizen of the U.S.A. and Australia.

To email Stewart please click here
Tel: +1 650 798 1195