The executive chairman of Inmarsat, Andrew Sukawaty, has joined US private equity firm Warburg Pincus as executive-in-residence (EiR), effective January 2015.
In his new role, Sukawaty will help Warburg identify global investment opportunities in the…
The executive chairman of Inmarsat, Andrew Sukawaty, has joined US private equity firm Warburg Pincus as executive-in-residence (EiR), effective January 2015.
In his new role, Sukawaty will help Warburg identify global investment opportunities in the TMT sector.
Sukawaty joined Inmarsat as chairman in December 2003 and was appointed chief executive officer in March 2004, subsequently overseeing the satellite operator’s successful IPO in mid-2005.
He then became executive chairman in January 2012 with the company’s group general counsel Rupert Pearce taking over as CEO. Sukawaty will become non-executive chairman in January 2015.
Between 1996 and 2000, Sukawaty served as CEO and president of telco Sprint PCS, having been chief executive of cable operator NTL from 1993 to 1996.
Sukawaty was recently chairman of Ziggo, the Amsterdam listed cable company that was recently sold to Liberty Global. He is also the former chairman of Belgium cableco Telenet and storage company Xyratex as well as the former deputy chairman of mobile operator O2.
In June 2013, Sukawaty was appointed as an independent non-executive director of UK satellite broadcaster Sky.
Commenting on the announcement, Joseph Schull, head of Europe for Warburg, said: “We look forward to working with Andy on identifying and evaluating a range of opportunities to pursue growth investing at scale and with a global footprint, in particular leveraging Andy’s expertise in next generation communication services and technology. Our EiR programme is unique in that it enables Warburg Pincus to work with proven executives and entrepreneurs to create our own differentiated deal flow in a thematic area of interest.”
