Iris Dorbian

Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said on Thursday that it has named Jose M. Amador as a managing director. In his new position, Amador will head the firm’s Latin American investment banking coverage. Amador, who will be based in TPH's Houston office, joins the company from Scotia Waterous, the oil and gas division of Scotiabank.

Commonfund Capital has named Cari B. Lodge to the newly created position of director. In her new role, Lodge will oversee the firm’s growth and management of secondaries. Prior to joining Commonfund Capital, Lodge served as director of Tulane University’s investment management office where she was responsible for private equity and private real assets investments. Commonfund Capital is a subsidiary of Commonfund, an investment manager for institutional investors.

Foundation Capital said on Thursday that it has named Harsh Patel as entrepreneur-in-residence. Prior to joining Foundation Capital, Patel served as president of Bina Technologies, a data analytics firm. Foundation Capital is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif.

U.S. Venture Partners said on Thursday that it has expanded its team. Dr. Jacques Benkoski has been promoted to partner while Mike Maciag has been named as an executive-in-residence and Craig Parker as the firm's entrepreneur-in-residence. USVP is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif.

GlaxoSmithKline, the global healthcare company, said on Wednesday that it has acquired Okairos AG, a Swiss-based developer of vaccine platform technologies for €250 million (approximately $325 million) in cash. The transaction will also include some early stage assets. Prior to the acquisition, Okairos was backed by the following life science VC firms: BioMedInvest, the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, LSP, Novartis Venture Funds and Versant Ventures.

Dresner Partners said on Wednesday that it has named Brian Graves as the company's managing director. Graves experience includes leadership and advisory roles with Ernst & Young's Strategic Advisory Services, Credit Suisse's HOLT Value Group, Mesirow Financial and Motorola. Dresner Partners is a middle-market investment bank based in Chicago.

J.F. Lehman & Company, a middle-market private equity firm focused on the defense, aerospace and maritime sectors, said on Wednesday that it has promoted four employees. The changes are as follows: Lisa M. Steffens will become managing director of fund finance and investor relations; David L. Rattner will become managing director, legal, administration and compliance; William J. Hanenberg will become vice president; and, David F. Thomas will become senior associate. J.F. Lehman & Company has offices in New York and Washington, D.C.

Cooley LLP said on Wednesday that Jeremy Naylor has joined the firm's New York office as a partner in its tax practice. In his new position, Naylor will work with the firm's leading venture capital group. Prior to joining Cooley LLP, Naylor worked at White & Case.

The Dusseldorf, Germany-based ENTRADE Group said on Wednesday that it is buying Agnion Energy. The current owners of Agnion Energy are Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Wellington Partners, Munich Venture Partners and Waste Management. No financial terms were disclosed. Headquartered in Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria, with a branch in Bolzano, Agnion is a heating and electricity supplier.

Dominion Gas, an oil field services company, was sold by Graphite Capital to Praxair, a U.S. based industrial gases group. No financial terms were disclosed. The Dominion management team, led by Russel Davies, chief executive, and Neil Potter, finance director, will remain with the company. Based in Aberdeen, Scotland, Dominion has facilities in the UK, Norway, Singapore and West Africa.