Duke Street poaches McMinnies from 3i

European mid-market firm Duke Street Capital has hired Stuart McMinnies as a partner, according to a statement from the firm.

McMinnies joins Duke Street from 3i, where he spent 19 years, the last 10 as a partner. At the London-listed group McMinnies played a leading role in several deals, including ABX, SR Technics and Fonecta, as well as representing 3i on the board of a number of investments such as Foster+Partners and Asia Capital Reinsurance.

Alongside his core focus on the UK mid-market, McMinnies, whose principal sector expertise is in business services, led a number of deals in continental Europe and in emerging markets.

Duke Street managing partner Peter Taylor said McMinnies’ hire was “a further endorsement of the deal-by-deal funding model we launched in 2012, accelerated subsequently by our strategic partnership with Tikehau Group”, adding that the firm’s pipeline of potential investments is “very strong”.

Duke Street adopted a deal-by-deal investment model after it failed to raise a fund following the economic downturn. In June the firm sold 35 percent of its management company to French asset manager Tikehau.

In August the pair, alongside Switzerland-based asset manager Partners Group, announced its fourth deal-by-deal investment, acquiring UK-based residential care provider Voyage Care from HgCapital for £375 million (€510 million; $576 million).