AT A GLANCE
Before founding Lagarde & Guardsmen, Thomas was Managing Director and Head of Investments at Maya Private Capital Investments, a Geneva-based private equity and private credit investment firm focused on EMEA distressed direct investments. There, he led end-to-end work on investments, execution, workouts, restructurings and exits. Overall, Thomas has worked on more than 110 transactions with a total deal value exceeding $60 billion.
Thomas began his career at Mizuho after several years in corporate finance, working in the group’s Investment Banking Division and focusing on capital market issuances for large global corporates. He worked in the London office and helped open offices in Frankfurt and Paris. He later joined the Trafigura group, where he focused on restructuring and turning around its midstream and downstream emerging markets business, Puma Energy. Thomas then served as Head of M&A for a Swiss private equity-backed healthcare group undergoing significant expansion across Switzerland and Europe.
Thomas has deep leadership experience across continents and corporate finance practices, having led more than half of the transactions he worked on. His expertise spans energy, real estate, healthcare and professional services, while maintaining a cross-industry perspective.
Thomas is fluent in French, English, Spanish with capacity in Russian and French Sign Language. Thomas holds two master’s degrees, graduating as valedictorian: a master’s in business administration from Skema Business School and an International Financial Analysis master’s from Lille’s IAE. He was also the winner of the French CFA Institute Research Challenge and an EMEA finalist.
Outside of work, Thomas is involved in ultra-endurance sports. He participated in the 10x ultra-triathlon World Championships in 2022 and completed 15 ultra-distance triathlons in 15 days. Prior to this, he held four national championship titles in flatwater kayaking.