Our Team

Edmund Lazarus

Managing Partner

Edmund Lazarus founded EMK Capital having previously been Managing Partner of Bregal Capital.

Edmund was a founder of Bregal Capital in 2002 and has been in senior private equity positions for over 19 years. Edmund’s early career was as a strategic consultant with Bain & Co and as an M&A and Corporate Finance adviser with SG Warburg, working with Mark Joseph who has been a friend for 26 years, and Merrill Lynch before he entered the private equity industry initially with Morgan Stanley Capital Partners.

Edmund is committed to public service alongside his professional career and served from 1992 to 2002 on Westminster Council the City Government for Central London latterly as Chairman of Finance and Deputy Leader, as Chairman of Finance of the London Development Agency from 2008 to 2012 and as Chairman of the London Green Fund from 2012 to 2016 (the latter positions nominated by the Mayor of London). Edmund graduated with a first class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University where he was also elected president of the Oxford Union in 1989.

Edmund's track record at Bregal Capital and EMK Capital covers 20 investments and over £1.1 billion of investment at cost.

Mark Joseph

Managing Partner

Mark Joseph founded EMK Capital having previously been a founding Partner at Oakley Capital Private Equity. Mark Joseph has 26 years of private equity investment and financial advisory experience covering a wide range of sectors. At Oakley Capital, Mark led portfolio investments including Verivox, intergenia, Parship, Facile and Educas.

Mark joined Oakley Capital in 2007 from UBS Investment Bank (formerly SG Warburg) where he was a Managing Director and advised on over $60 billion of transactions primarily in the European TMT sectors.

It was at SG Warburg that Mark worked with Edmund Lazarus and the two became close friends. Prior to working as an investment banker, Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers having previously graduated with an honours degree in Economics from the University of Manchester. He is married with two children.

Patrik Johnson

Partner

Patrik Johnson has extensive experience in sourcing, executing and managing private equity investments across a range of sectors and geographies.

A Founding Partner at EMK Capital, Patrik was previously a Partner and investor at Bregal Capital and Englefield Capital for more than ten years and played a key role in the investments and value creation of Cognita, Mirror Controls International, Danwood, Bluestep and Whittan.

Before starting his career in private equity Patrik worked in the financial sponsors team at Credit Suisse First Boston where he advised on and executed leveraged finance transactions for financial sponsors across Europe, including high yield bonds, leveraged loans, PIK and mezzanine loans.

A Swedish national, Patrik graduated from the Stockholm School of Economics with a Master of Science degree in Accounting and Financial Management, as well as completed studies at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Adam Frahm

Partner

Adam Frahm is a Partner and part of the founding team at EMK Capital. Prior to EMK Capital, Adam spent three years with Bregal Capital, where he worked on the investments in Bluestep, Cognita, QA, and Whittan.

Adam started his career in the financial sponsors team at Citigroup in London, focusing on M&A and leveraged finance transactions in the financial sponsors space, having previously graduated from Copenhagen Business School with a Master's degree in finance and strategic management.

Nicholas Armstrong

Partner

Nicholas Armstrong is a Partner and member of the founding team at EMK Capital. Prior to EMK, Nick was part of the Bregal Capital team from mid-2014 and worked extensively across a number of investments; Reconomy, Morrison Utility Services, Ideal Stelrad Group, Danwood and FiveTen.

Prior to joining Bregal, Nick worked in Nomura's UK M&A team in London and Nomura’s Australian M&A team in Sydney. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master's in Finance.

Julia Maurice

Executive Assistant

Julia Maurice has worked as an EA and in Events since 1995. She has worked for Edmund Lazarus since 2012.

Simon Dexter

Partner

Simon Dexter is a Partner and part of the founding team at EMK Capital. Prior to EMK Capital, Simon spent 5 years at Oakley Capital Private Equity, where he worked on the investments in intergenia, HEG and Parship. He was also a member of the board of intergenia, Parship and Facile.

Prior to Oakley, Simon worked at HSBC in the UK mid-market corporate finance team and at KPMG in the Transaction Services and Restructuring team, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Simon graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA in Economics.

Daniel Rix-Standing

Investment Manager

Daniel Rix-Standing is an Investment Manager and part of the founding team at EMK Capital. Prior to EMK Capital, Daniel worked at Oliver Wyman, a management consultancy, for three years where he focused on supporting private equity clients to assess investments in Financial Services, Technology and Business Services.

Daniel graduated with a BA in Natural Sciences from St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, having also represented his university in the 2011 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.

Graham Lunn

CFO & Partner

Graham is the Chief Financial Officer and Compliance Officer of EMK Capital and has extensive experience operating at senior levels in private equity funds. Prior to joining EMK in 2016, Graham held a similar role from 2013 at X2 Resources LLP, a mining and metals focussed private equity vehicle. From 2008 to 2013 Graham was Director of Funds Administration at Actis LLP, a US$6.3bn AUM private equity investor focussed on emerging markets.

Prior to working in private equity, Graham qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and spent nine years with the firm auditing and advising investment management businesses. Graham graduated from Durham University in 1999 with a Masters degree in Civil Engineering.

Toni Martello

Executive Assistant

Toni joined EMK in early 2016 as Executive Assistant providing administrative services for Patrik Johnson and the wider team.

Martha Mends

Associate

Martha Mends is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK Capital, Martha worked at Accenture Strategy, a management consultancy, where she supported private equity and corporate clients to assess investments in Consumer Goods, Financial Services and Business Services.

Martha graduated from Somerville College, University of Oxford with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Zachary Freud

Associate

Zachary Freud is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK, Zachary worked at J.P. Morgan in their Investment Banking Division advising on a range of transactions across the Consumer, Retail, Healthcare and Real Estate sectors.

Zachary graduated with a first class degree in Land Economy from Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, having also attained Half Blue colours in water polo.

Nico Marx

Partner - Netherlands

Nico Marx has extensive experience in sourcing, executing and managing private equity investments across a range of sectors, geographies and company life cycles.

Nico was previously an Investment Director at Bregal Capital and Englefield Capital for six years and played an important role in the investments and value creation of Cognita, Bluestep and Canopius.

Before starting his career in private equity Nico worked in the financial sponsors team and the special situations group at Citigroup. A Dutch national, Nico graduated from the Erasmus University Rotterdam with a Master of Science degree in Business Administration.

Kata Pfiszterer

Associate

Kata Pfiszterer is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK, Kata worked at Goldman Sachs in their Leveraged Finance team within the Investment Banking Division on a range of transactions across the Industrials, TMT and FIG sectors. Prior to that, Kata was a Financial Analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Franco-Iberia Private Wealth team, in London.

Kata graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a master's degree in International Economic Policy and holds a bachelor's degree from Bocconi University in International Economics, Management and Finance and a bachelor's degree from CEU Business School in Business Administration.

Ben Graves

Associate

Ben Graves is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK, Ben worked at Boston Consulting Group in the Principal Investors & Private Equity team where he focussed on supporting clients' investment decisions across a range of industries including Consumer, TMT, Industrial Goods, and Business Services.

Ben graduated with a Masters in Chemistry from Worcester College, University of Oxford, having also attained a Full Blue in Lawn Tennis.

Andreas Lind

Associate

Andreas Lind is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to EMK, Andreas worked at Credit Suisse in the Investment Banking and Capital Markets division advising on a range of M&A, leveraged buyout and capital raising transactions in the Industrials sector.

Andreas graduated from the London School of Economics with a Master's degree in Accounting and Finance, and from the University of Exeter with a Bachelor's degree in Business Management.

Darius Kharazipour

Associate

Darius Kharazipour is an Associate at EMK Capital.

Darius began his career in the Industrials team in Credit Suisse's Investment Banking Division in London, focusing on M&A and leveraged finance transactions.

He graduated from RSM, Erasmus University with a Bachelor's degree in International Business Administration and a Master's degree in Accounting and Finance.

Simran Khakha

Executive Assistant

Simran joined EMK in early 2019 as Executive Assistant providing administrative services for Mark Joseph and Graham Lunn

Eva Vogt

Head of ESG and Impact & Partner

Eva is Head of Impact and ESG at EMK Capital. Eva brings her 12+ years experience of working in sustainable development across government, business and NGO sectors. She has been part of the analysis team for corporate sustainability index FTSE4Good and part of the management team for the AccountAbility Rating. She has delivered bespoke projects for the Sustainable Development Commission, The Prince’s Office, ARUP and Channel 4. She has coauthored sustainability and assessment reports for clients such as BP, Camelot, AXA, Mittal Steel and provided sustainability report assurance for John Lewis Partnership and Danisco. She spent four years working for an international reforestation NGO on strategy, corporate partnerships and impact reporting.

Eva holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Durham University and an MProf. In Leadership for Sustainable Development from Forum for the Future.

Abbie Hirst

Finance Manager

Abbie is the Finance Manager of EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK, Abbie qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and spent over 5 years with the firm auditing private equity, private debt and venture capital funds.

Abbie graduated from Durham University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry.

Nadia Rida

Associate

Nadia Rida is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK, Nadia worked at CVC Capital Partners in their Netherlands private equity team and at CVC Credit Partners in their Performing Credit team in London where she worked on investments across the sub-investment grade corporate credit markets. Prior to that, Nadia worked in the leveraged finance team at Mizuho Bank London and the corporate finance division of ABN AMRO Bank.

Nadia graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a degree in Business Studies and holds a MSc in Organisational Psychology from the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Christiaan Vaupell

Associate

Christiaan Vaupell is an Associate at EMK Capital. Prior to joining EMK, Christiaan worked at ING in the Benelux Corporate Finance team and at PwC in their Deals practice.

Christiaan graduated from the VU University with Master's degrees in both Business Administration and Organisational Sciences.

Michael Biehl

Partner - Germany

Michael joined EMK in 2021 with over 14 years of private equity experience, sourcing, executing and managing investments across a range of sectors and geographies, most recently in a senior role at Hg Capital. There he was closely involved with building Hg’s inaugural large cap Saturn fund, which focusses on tech and software investments globally. During this time Michael held board mandates with Iris Software in the UK and P&I Software in Germany.

Prior to Hg, Michael worked at Blackstone and Warburg Pincus with a particular focus on the tech-enabled services and manufacturing sectors in Europe. Before starting his career in private equity, Michael worked at Merrill Lynch in the Financial Sponsors and Leveraged Finance teams in both London and New York.

A German national, Michael holds a master’s in Economics and Business Administration, summa cum laude, from WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany as well as completed studies at ESCP in Paris. Additionally, he holds an MBA from INSEAD in Singapore and Paris.