Simon Borrows (born 24 January 1959) is a British investment banker. He is the former head of mergers & acquisitions at

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

and the former chairman of the investment bank Greenhill & Co. Since 2012, he has served as the chief executive of the private equity and venture capital firm 3i.

Early life

Simon Borrows was born on 24 January 1959 in

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...

, Buckinghamshire, England. His father was Kenneth Ambrose Borrows and his mother, Ailsa Nancy Borrows. Borrows was educated at the

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania ...

. He graduated from the

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, where he earned an LL.B, and he earned a master in business administration from the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

in 1985.

Career

Borrows worked for HSBC in Hong Kong from 1980 to 1983, followed by

Morgan, Grenfell & Co Morgan, Grenfell & Co. was a leading London-based investment bank regarded as one of the oldest and once most influential British merchant banks. It had its origins in a merchant banking business commenced by George Peabody. Junius Spencer Morgan ...

from 1985 to 1988, and

from 1988 to 1998, where he was the head of mergers & acquisitions from 1995 to 1998. He joined Greenhill & Co. as a founding partner of the London office in 1998. He was its co-president from 2004 to 2007, its co-chief executive from 2007 to 2010, and the chairman of Greenhill & Co. International from 2010 to 2011. According to ''The Independent'', he "turned Greenhill, once a small, specialist US-based investment bank, into a major player in Europe's M&A market." Borrows was principal external advisor to 3i, a private equity and venture capital company, from 1994 to 2004. In that capacity, he advised 3i on its listing on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

in 1994. He became an executive director and its chief investment officer in October 2011. In that capacity, he led the acquisition of

Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

for £114 million. Since 17 May 2012 he has served as its chief executive officer. He continues to be an executive director, and he serves on its group risk committee, its executive committee and its investment committee. Borrows served on the board of directors of

Inchcape plc Inchcape plc is a British multinational automotive distribution, retail and services company headquartered in London. An outgrowth of Calcutta-based Mackinnon Mackenzie Company, Inchcape has operations in 32 countries across Asia, Australia, ...

from 2011 to 2015. He also served as a non-executive director of

British Land The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in ...

from 2011 to 17 July 2017.

Personal life

Borrows married Sally Ann Weston in 1987. They have a son and two daughters. He is a member of the Queenwood Golf Club in

Ottershaw Ottershaw is a village in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately southwest of central London. The village developed in the mid-19th century from a number of separate hamlets and became a parish in its own right in 1871. The ...

and the St George's Hill Golf Club in

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

References

Living people 1959 births People from Taplow People educated at Rossall School Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of London Business School English investment bankers English chief executives British corporate directors 3i Group people {{England-business-bio-stub