Warburg Pincus hires Ziggo and Sky exec Sukawaty

Andrew Sukawaty

Private equity group Warburg Pincus has hired former Ziggo chairman and current Inmarsat executive chairman Andrew Sukawaty as an ‘executive-in-residence’ to help it identify new investment opportunities in media and telecoms.

Sukawaty, who will be based in the firm’s London office from January 2015, is set to transition to a non-executive role at Inmarsat next year. He is a former CEO of the satellite company, as well as chairman of Dutch cable operator Ziggo before its takeover by Liberty Global. He is also an independent non-executive director of Sky.

Warburg Pincus was one of the main investors in Ziggo along with Cinven ahead of its IPO before completing its exit from the company in April 2013.

“Andy brings over thirty years of global TMT experience and leadership to Warburg Pincus. 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,” said Joseph Schull, head of Europe for Warburg Pincus.

“I am excited to be joining the Warburg Pincus team with its global track record and experience in building and growing successful companies in the TMT space. There will be many opportunities for investment in the TMT market in the years ahead. Through my experience working with Warburg Pincus previously, they have demonstrated a true long-term growth orientation. High performing management teams look for this type of support when partnering with an investor. This made them an ideal partner and I am excited to work with the team in developing new opportunities in the sector,” said Sukawaty.