Bankers team up with Greek shipowner to launch private investment firm

Former senior Goldman Sachs and HSBC banker Matthew Westerman is launching a private investment firm alongside a former colleague and a Greek shipping tycoon, he said on Friday.

Westerman will partner his former Goldman Sachs colleague Julian Metherell and Peter Livanos, who owns Greek shipping company Ceres Hellenic, in a new firm called MW&L Capital Partners.

The trio will invest in small to medium-sized targets based on knowledge built up in their respective careers covering financial services, oil and gas, and shipping, Westerman said.

"We think there is a gap in the market for long-term capital; ours is not 'five-year fund money' so we don't have money burning a hole in our pockets and we can afford to be flexible and supportive of management when we see an opportunity," Westerman told Reuters by phone.

The firm will look to partner with...