Private Equity News & Analysis

Three non-execs join Lloyds TSB Registrars board

Three external non-executive directors have been appointed to the interim board of Advent International’s pending acquisition Lloyds TSB Registrars, a practice encouraged by Sir David Walker’s recent report on transparency in private equity.

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European buyout firm Advent International has appointed two non-executive directors and a non-executive chairman to the interim advisory board of Lloyds TSB Registrars, the share registration business it is buying for £550 million (€818 million $1.1 billion).

Bob Thian becomes chairman, while Rod Aldridge and Oliver Niedermaier will become non-executive directors.  All three will co-invest in the business alongside Advent.

Thian is chairman of UK utilities group Southern Water and life sciences business Whatman. Aldridge was previously chairman of support services company Capita Group, which he founded in 1984 and led into the FTSE 100 index before retiring in July 2006, while Niedermaier is a former senior executive at Computershare, an Australia-listed financial services technology company he joined when it bought his IT consultancy Pepper Technologies in 2004.

The directors will assume roles at Lloyds TSB Registrars upon completion of the deal, which is expected to close at the end of the year.
 
James Brocklebank and Peter Rutland from Advent International will also become members of the board, while David Winton, Registrars’ managing director, will become chief executive. Two other Lloyds TSB Registrars executives will also join the board upon completion. 
 
Lloyds TSB Registrars is a share registration business, which operates in the financial services business process outsourcing market.

The appointments come a day after Sir David Walker’s report on the industry recommended private equity firms appoint outside directors to the boards of portfolio companies.  He said this could create “constructive tension” on the board, particularly with relation to the company’s audit committee.  However contrary to some media speculation he stopped short of recommending independent non-executive directors, suggesting this was contrary to the private equity model.