Goldman Sachs beefs up Europe private equity team

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is relocating investment banker John Waldron to London from New York to co-head the group that advises private equity firms, another signal of the sector's growing significance in Europe.

Waldron will work with Richard Campell-Breeden starting April 1, Goldman Sachs said on Monday, to broaden the bank's relationships with private equity firms, which are among the top fee-generating clients for deal advisers.

Private equity firms, which borrow large sums of money to help finance takeovers of publicly listed companies, have been increasingly targeting deals in Europe.

A group of four buyout firms is contemplating a 10 billion pound ($19.4 billion) takeover of supermarket group J. Sainsbury (SBRY.L) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts [KKR.UL] said on Friday it had made a 9.7 billion pound approach to buy pharmacy chain owner Alliance Boots AB.L.

Goldman is advising the consortium on Sainsbury and Alliance Boots on the approach.

Waldron joined the bank in 2000 to work on media and technology deals and transferred to become co-head of leveraged finance in 2005.

Charlie Bott, who had been co-head of the bank's financial sponsors group in London, will now become chairman of it.

Meanwhile, Tom Connolly, Tim Flynn and Doug Henderson will remain in leadership roles with the leveraged finance group in New York, Goldman Sachs said.