Bridgepoint adds Rose to advisory roster

European private equity firm Bridgepoint has appointed Sir Stuart Rose, the high profile boss of listed UK retailer Marks and Spencer, to its advisory committee.

Rose is the chairman and former chief executive of Marks and Spencer, a clothing and food retailing giant in the UK. He began his career at M&S in 1972 and subsequently went on to join high street retailer Burton. After spells as the chief executive of catalogue retailer Argos, cash and carry brand Booker and fashion retailer Arcadia Group, he returned to M&S as chief executive in 2004.

Sir Stuart Rose

Bridgepoint is currently deploying its €4.8 billion fourth fund, which surpassed its €4 billion target in November 2008. As a member of its advisory committee Rose will give the firm macro-level insight into social, political and industrial trends as well as insight into Rose’s specific area of expertise: retail.

The firm has a number of existing investments in the sector, including: Pret A Manger, a UK-based restaurant chain; Fat Face, a UK-based clothing retailer; and Limoni, an Italian perfume retail chain. The £955 million (€1.14 billion; $1.47 billion) exit of Pets at Home, a UK-based chain of pet superstores, earlier this year provided Bridgepoint with one of its most successful exits and generated a return of eight times Bridgepoint’s original investment.

Bridgepoint’s advisory committee is chaired by Alan Milburn, former UK government Secretrary of State for Heath, and James Crosby, the former chief executive of banking group HBOS. Other members include Lord Patten, the former Governor of Hong Kong, and Hubertus Erlen, the former chief executive of Bayer Schering Pharma.