H.I.G. Capital expanded its European WhiteHorse team with the addition of Laurent Vaille and Charles Bourgeois as principals. Vaille will be based in H.I.G.’s London office and Bourgeois will be based in H.I.G.’s Paris office.

Vaille has 13 years of experience in direct lending and corporate finance. He was previously an executive director in the private debt division of Tikehau Capital in Paris. Prior to that, he worked for Ernst & Young and Deloitte Finance.

Bourgeois has 13 years of experience in direct lending and corporate finance. Prior to joining H.I.G., he was an executive director in the private debt division of Tikehau Capital in Paris. He was previously with GE Capital in the leveraged finance division after working at SG and LD&A Jupiter.

“Hiring professionals of the caliber of Laurent and Charles to lead our French direct lending activities represents a major boost to our European direct lending ambitions,” Pascal Meysson, head of H.I.G. WhiteHorse Europe, said.

H.I.G. Capital is a global alternative asset investment firm with more than €35 billion ($41.68 billion) of equity capital under management.