Morrisons chairman Andrew Higginson has added a new role to his list of responsibilities after joining the private equity owner of Poundland as a senior advisor.
Higginson is known to Warburg Pincus after his stint as chairman of the discount retail chain, in which the private equity firm has owned a majority stake since 2010. He gave up the position in July last year – after having a steering hand in the £750m flotation in March – to join Morrisons.
Warburg Pincus said Higginson would support the firm in the “identification and evaluation of new investments” in the European consumer and retail sectors, and more broadly across the financial services and technology, media and telecommunications industries.
“I am delighted to be working with Warburg Pincus again,” Higginson said. “Through my experience of working with them as chairman of Poundland, they showed a long-term, supportive perspective, working with the management team to build the business.
“The consumer sector offers many opportunities and I look forward to working with Warburg Pincus to identify attractive investments and advise them more broadly across their activities.”
Earlier this month, Warburg Pincus made £142m from the sale of almost half its remaining stake in Poundland – disposing of 35 million shares at 405p each. The firm, which bought into the group for £200m, still owns 16.4% of the retailer and also has more than $35bn in assets under management.
“Andy brings over 30 years of experience as a leader in retail, consumer goods, and other consumer facing sectors in Europe and around the world,” added Paul Best, head of the healthcare and consumer and team in Europe for Warburg Pincus. “He brings significant experience which will be invaluable as we continue to make growth investments in the consumer industry globally.”
Higginson is currently acting in an executive capacity at Morrisons, attempting to turnaround the troubled supermarket while a replacement for former CEO Dalton Philips is found. He also holds chairman roles at home shopping group N Brown and sales consultancy McCurrach, as well as acting as a director of Woolworths South Africa and the Rugby Football Union. Higginson has also spent time with Unilever and Guinness and was at Tesco for a number of years.
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