Masterson hands Montagu’s reins to Gatenby

Montagu Private Equity has significantly shuffled its senior management, promoting longtime chief executive Chris Masterson to the newly created role of chairman.

Masterson has spent 18 years working for the mid-market European firm, which spun out of HSBC in 2003.

Chris Masterson

The management change will allow Masterson “to focus more on strategic and investment-related matters”, according to a statement. A spokeswoman declined to give more specific details, but said Masterson is in no way stepping back from the firm and will continue to sit on the investment committee.

Taking over the day-to-day chief executive duties is Jason Gatenby, who joined Montagu in 2000 after having spent a decade at 3i.

Jason Gatenby

“Jason has an outstanding investment record – he is responsible for some of Montagu’s best realisations and has also played an increasingly important role in managing our investments and making investment decisions,” said Masterson. “This organisational change is a natural evolution for the firm, which I believe will considerably enhance our effectiveness.”

The firm has been actively selling down its portfolio in recent months, having most recently sold British Car Auctions to US private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Its third fund, closed in 2003, raised €2.26 billion.