Simon Palley, the head of BC Partners' London office, is leaving at the end of the month after 17 years with the buyout firm and at least 18 months ahead of its next round of fundraising for Europe.

It is not yet clear what Palley's future plans are, but his amicable departure will be a loss to BC as he was instrumental two years ago in raising what at the time was the European record for a buyout fund, at €5.8bn ($8.1bn).