Robin Saunders
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Robin Saunders (born June 8, 1962) is an American financier, and the founder and managing partner of Clearbrook Capital Partners LLP,''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
 – 18 October 2005, “Deal maker attempts a comeback.” Carrick Mollenkamp
a London-based private equity firm that specialises in property, asset management, speciality finance and infrastructure finance.


Early life

Saunders was born in Greensboro,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, and grew up in Jacksonville,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.


Career

Saunders started her career at Northern Trust in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
in 1984 where she specialised in export finance, and from there joined
Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
. In 1992 Saunders moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
when she was appointed head of European securitisation at
Chemical Bank Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world. Beginning ...
. Following a stint at
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
, in 1998 Saunders joined German bank West LB as head of its Principal Finance Group and agency Asset Securitisation division. While there, she was instrumental in a string of high-profile deals, including masterminding a bond to refinance
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...
’s
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
business; funding the redevelopment of London’s
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
; the acquisition of stakes in Mid Kent Water, a British water utility company, and Whyte & Mackay, a Scottish whisky company; and providing finance for
Philip Green Sir Philip Nigel Ross Green (born 15 March 1952) is a British businessman who was the chairman of the retail company the Arcadia Group. He owned the high street clothing retailers Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge from 2002 to 2020. As of Ma ...
’s purchase of British Home Stores. As a result of her work, Saunders has served on several UK boards, including Formula One Holdings; Pubmistress Ltd, parent company of Pubmaster group, the owner of approximately 3,200 pubs; The
Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...
; Odeon Cinemas; Whyte & Mackay; Mid-Kent Water, Harbourmaster Capital Management; British Home Stores and Saddler's Wells Theatre. Saunders left West LB after parts of BoxClever, a television-rental company that she helped to finance, went into administration, leaving the bank with a €1.7bn loss. In April 2004, she set up Clearbrook with the backing of high-net-worth investors and financial institutions in Europe and the US. Investments have included Eclipse Scientific Group, a food safety and testing company. Clearbrook financed a management buyout of Eclipse in 2004 together with an expansion programme which saw the company assemble 11 laboratories in the UK and Ireland before it was sold two years later to larger rival Inspicio. In 2005, Clearbrook together with
RIT Capital Partners RIT Capital Partners plc, formerly Rothschild Investment Trust, is a large British investment trust dedicated to investments in quoted securities and quoted special situations. Established in 1961, the company is listed on the London Stock Exchan ...
took a 49 percent stake in Harbourmaster, a Dublin-based credit manager. The sale of Harbourmaster to
GSO Capital Partners Blackstone Credit, formerly known as GSO Capital Partners is an American hedge fund and the credit investment arm of The Blackstone Group. GSO is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant ...
, a unit of
The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...
was announced in October 2011 for an undisclosed sum. In January 2013, Robin became Chairman of Hawk Group SA, a pan-European finance company.


Philanthropy

Saunders is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and education. She is a visiting fellow at The University of Oxford’s Said Business School, The University of Oxford and a Resident Expert/Mentor at the Oxford Foundry. She is a Council Member of the
Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...
, She is a Governor of the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, a Fulbright Commission Board Member, and a Trustee of Rambert Dance Company.


Personal life

Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White became friends with Saunders, leading White's third wife Matilde Conejero to suspect an affair between the two; White and Conejero had a fight in January 2005, after which he spent 14 hours in the cells of Notting Hill police station.


References


Further reading


Business Profile: Rockin' RobinInterview with Robin Saunders, head of principal finance, WestLB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, Robin Living people 1962 births American financiers Businesspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina Florida State University alumni American women business executives American business executives 21st-century American women Governors of the British Film Institute