Investment Manager

David Sefton (partner)

David Sefton has been involved in private equity investment in the oil and gas industry since 2004. He founded Linton Capital in 2005.

David began his career at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, where he was a senior associate based in the London and New York offices. In 2002, he joined Lukoil Financial Services as its chief legal officer.

David has extensive experience of investments and other transactions throughout Europe, including Russia, the Middle East and North America.

David holds bachelor and masters’ degrees from the University of Oxford and trained as a barrister.

Michael Goffin, CGA (partner)

Michael has over 15 years of experience in investment management, accounting and corporate finance.

Michael and David Sefton have worked together since 2004. Prior to joining Linton Capital in 2010, Michael was a partner with a Canada-based private equity firm for 13 years. Previously, he held financial positions in the services industry and manufacturing sectors. Michael has extensive experience across all aspects of fund management and oversight of portfolio investments.

Michael has served on the boards of numerous funds and private and publicly listed companies.

Michael graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in economics and environmental management in 1994 and holds a certified general accountant professional designation.

Roland Wessel (partner)

Roland has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He was initially involved in the drilling services sector and undertook managerial roles in most of the active oil and gas regions of the world, including West Africa, the Middle East, the North Sea, and North and South America.

Leaving his position as Eastern Hemisphere Manager at Teleco Oilfield Services, Roland founded a new company, Integrated Drilling Services (IDS) in 1992 with backing from 3i Group plc. While establishing IDS, he co-developed a rotary steerable system for Camco that (as the Power Drive system) is currently one of Schlumberger’s most successful products. Roland sold IDS in 1998 before founding Star Energy, which is a leading onshore UK producer and developer of oil and gas and an operator of gas-storage facilities. After listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2004, Star Energy was bought by Petronas, the Malaysian state oil company in 2008.

Roland held a number of non-executive positions in the oil and gas sector, including at Dominion Petroleum, an AIM-listed, independent oil and gas exploration company operating in Africa. He is a geology graduate from University College, London.

Nick Butler (advisor)

Nick graduated in economics from Cambridge University before joining BP, the British oil firm, in 1977, ultimately becoming senior economist and group vice-president for strategy and policy development.

Nick is a Visiting Fellow and chair of the King's Policy Institute at King's College, London. He is also energy policy adviser at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge and a senior adviser to both Coller Capital and Corporate Value Associates. From 2007 to 2009, he was chairman of the Cambridge Centre for Energy Studies. He was a special adviser to Gordon Brown, then British Prime Minister, from 2009 to 2010.

He is a non-executive director of Cambridge Econometrics and a trustee of Asia House.

James Cane FCA (chief financial officer)

James has been a chief executive and finance director in both listed and private equity-backed businesses, and was a non-executive director of the Lambeth Building Society until its sale to the Portman, now the Nationwide, in 2006. James, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and an associate of the Securities Institute, has operated a consultancy business for over thirty years.

Since 2010, he has been the chief financial officer of 8 Miles LLP, a private equity firm raising a fund to invest in buyouts across Africa. He has also advised a number of private-equity firms on strategy, marketing and business development. After resigning as chief executive and finance director of Ashley House PLC in 2004, James has carried out a number of long-term consultancy projects for private equity investment firms operating in the UK and the emerging markets, as well as advising a leading global private-equity placement agent. During 2007, he was a director of an AIM-quoted shell company that reversed into a Chinese food manufacturer.

James was a management consultant during the 1980s and 1990s, prior to his appointment as a divisional managing and finance director at Westminster Healthcare before and after its buyout by a private equity consortium in 1999. This was followed by roles as the operations and finance director of a private equity advisory firm.

James is a trustee of the UK's longest-established drama school, LAMDA (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) and chairs its finance committee.

Debra Feldman (practice manager)

Debra manages Linton's administration and finance functions. She joined from the American law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, where she spent ten years after previously working at County NatWest and the Port of London Authority.