William R. Watson

William R Watson, is the Managing Partner of Value4Capital, a Central European focused private equity firm. Bill has over 20 years of experience in Eastern and Central European private equity and a track record of active involvement in numerous transactions throughout the region. Bill joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1992 as the region was first opening. He moved in 1997 to Baring Private Equity Partners as a partner to raise and invest the €86m Baring Central European Fund. With this fund he joined Société Générale Asset Management as Chief Investment Officer for Eastern Europe Private Equity in 2005. There the team raised and invested SGAM Eastern Europe, a EUR156m fund. In October 2011 he and his partners spun-out to become Value4Capital, continuing to advise the fund. A Canadian (and by marriage a French citizen), he holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA, with distinction, from INSEAD. He is a member of the European Venture Capital Association’s Mid-Market Platform Council and its Professional Standards Committee.