News & media Cordiant announces important additions to its digital infrastructure team
Cordiant Capital’s Digital Infrastructure Group is pleased to announce a meaningful expansion: five talented and highly experienced individuals with operating backgrounds in the digital infrastructure sector are joining the team. These individuals either worked with Cordiant Digital’s Chairman Steven Marshall at National Grid Wireless, or were known to him by virtue of holding senior roles in the telecommunications sector over the years.
Cordiant’s Managing Partner and Co-Head of Digital Benn Mikula noted: “My partner Steven Marshall produced an outstanding record of success at American Tower (where the share price rose over six times during his decade as President) and National Grid Wireless. During the highly successful years prior to National Grid Wireless being acquired (and renamed Arqiva), Steve (who was CEO) and the management team returned hundreds of millions of pounds of dividends to shareholders. Key elements of this management team are now re-united with him. This will enable Cordiant to better serve investors by enhancing the operations of its portfolio companies. With a senior team balanced between private equity investors and operating executives, Cordiant Digital brings a differentiated and value-creating offering to the digital middle market.”
Steven Marshall noted: “At Cordiant, we have assembled an outstanding team of investors and operators that can bring complementary skills to the evaluation and management of these digital assets. They provide a unique resource for both entrepreneurs looking to partner with Cordiant to expand their companies as well as corporations looking to sell digital infrastructure assets to a trusted counterparty. I am delighted that these talented individuals have chosen to work with me again on these fantastic opportunities.”
Cordiant Digital is manager of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited (CORD:LSE); the firm manages funds with committed capital of over $2.5 billion and is also in the market with a GP/LP fund targeting a different set of digital opportunities than CORD.
The five team members (in alphabetical order) are:
- David Bonar, Treasurer – Mr Bonar will assume the roles of Treasurer of CORD and Cordiant Digital. He will assist portfolio companies in optimising both financial reporting as well as operations (for example, in lease portfolio optimisation). Mr Bonar held various executive roles at National Grid Group plc with significant responsibility in treasury, structured finance and M&A. He has also worked at JPMorgan Chase and Ernst & Young. A Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, he holds degrees from the University of Oxford as well as two degrees (Physics and Computing & Mathematical Science) from the Open University.
- Rita Maguire, Head of Talent – Ms Maguire will assist portfolio companies in building their teams, ensuring management depth and generally assisting in the construction of appropriate human resources structures. She will also oversee Cordiant Digital’s human resources function. Ms Maguire served as HR Director at National Grid Wireless and Crown Castle UK. Having established a human resources consultancy, she served a variety of corporate clients on important human resources initiatives including a subsidiary of American Tower, Royal Bank of Scotland and the National Health Service. Ms Maguire holds a Masters in Executive and Business Coaching, a, Post Graduate Diploma in the Psychology of Coaching, and is a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and a Member of Warwick Business School’s MBA Mentor and Coaches programme.
- Kevin Moroney, Broadcast Advisor – Mr Moroney will be Cordiant Digital’s in-house expert in broadcast infrastructure technologies and business strategies, bringing a deep understanding of both coming trends and operational effectiveness. Mr Moroney is a Director of TVA Group (television audience, advertisement and IP streaming services), D2 Group (broadcast engineering) and Parkmore. He served as Commercial, Regulatory and Compliance Director at Arqiva (where he also managed the MuxCo business unit) and held executive roles as National Grid Wireless and Crown Castle. He is a graduate of City of Birmingham University.
- Mark Noble, General Counsel – Mr Noble joins Cordiant with responsibilities for the legal aspects of the acquisitions made by Cordiant Digital, as well as for the governance relationship between CORD and Cordiant. A highly experienced General Counsel and M&A lawyer, he has served as general Counsel of Renishaw plc and Deputy Group General Counsel at National Grid plc (where he managed legal teams in New York, Boston and London, oversaw transactions in North America and Europe and helped establish joint ventures such as the U.K.- Norway interconnector). He was substantially involved in both the acquisition of Crown Castle UK by National Grid Wireless and the subsequent sale of the enlarged business to Macquarie (the transaction that created Arqiva). He is a graduate of Coventry University.
- Atul Roy, Telecommunications Advisor – Mr Roy, will be Cordiant Digital’s in house expert on trends and operations in relation to mobile towers and fibre. He will work Closely with Mr Moroney in providing both the team and portfolio companies with expertise in relation to network trends and effectiveness. Mr Roy served as Head of Strategy of BT Group, the U.K.’s incumbent telecommunications operator, where he oversaw a network investment portfolio of £2.3bn. He also held senior roles in strategy and M&A at EE, the U.K.’s largest mobile operator, prior to its acquisition by BT Group for £12.5bn. He has been instrumental in creation of several site sharing agreements, including the U.K.’s largest such agreement between the mobile networks of EE and Three. He has a degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from Amravati University, India, and a Masters in Broadband and Mobile Communication from University of Kent, UK, where he is now also a visiting professor, (appointed by the Royal Academy of Engineering).
Cordiant Digital’s team is largely anchored in its London Office
