A businessman and private equity investor who spent 10 years in top roles at Unilever will be the next chair of UK Government Investments, the Treasury has announced.
Vindi Banga, who has been a senior partner at the private equity firm Clayton Dubilier and Rice for 11 years, is also chair of Marie Curie and sits on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.
He is also a director for Marks and Spencer, and spent a decade as a senior exec at Unilever – most recently as president of its global foods, home and personal care businesses, before leaving in 2010.
He will take over as chair of UKGI, a company owned by government that manages its investments in 17 businesses including Channel 4, Ordnance Survey and NatWest, in September.
The appointment is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Announcing it, the Treasury noted that the appointment had been “made on merit and political activity played no part in the decision process”.
The headhunting firm Odgers Berndtson oversaw the recruitment process.
A contract notice published in December said UKGI was willing to pay up to £189,000 for the recruitment of the chair and the next director of its contingent liabilities group.
John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, said Banga’s “extensive leadership experience will be a great asset for guiding the UKGI board in the coming years”.
“UKGI provides invaluable advice and support to the government on corporate governance and corporate finance, and Vindi’s appointment will ensure this continues,” he added.
UKGI chief executive Charles Donald added: “I am particularly pleased that this critical organisation will be led by someone who embodies our ambitious diversity and inclusion agenda and is passionate about helping me to build on the progress made to date. I very much look forward to working with Vindi in his new role as we continue to deliver on our objectives over the next year and beyond.”
He also thanked current chair Robert Swannell, who has chaired UKGI and its predecessor organisation, the Shareholder Executive, since 2014.
The company was formed in 2016 in a merger between the Shareholder Executive and UK Financial Investments, which was set up to manage the Treasury’s shareholdings in banks bailed out during the 2008 banking crisis.
Donald said: “I extend my heartfelt thanks to Robert Swannell for all his good advice and support as chairman and the work he has done during his tenure to transform UKGI into the organisation it is today.”