The Carlyle Group has hired the chairman of Australia’s foreign investment review board as a senior adviser, underscoring the importance of political connections after the board blocked two bids for AusGrid.
The US-listed private equity firm has recruited Brian Wilson as a senior advisor to its Asia buyout team. He started on Monday, joining the group’s 30-strong team of senior business executives who have been hired as consultants. He will remain based in Sydney.
The move comes just weeks after Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) — which Wilson is still chairing — blocked a pair of bids for AusGrid, the state-owned electricity company. State Grid of China and Cheung Kong Infrastructure were denied the right to bid for the company.
Wilson has a strong financial pedigree, having helped set up Lazard’s Australian operation in 2004. He retired in 2009 as a managing director. Before Lazard, he worked as a vice-chairman in Citigroup Australia.
Wilson has more than 30 years of financial market experience. He has advised on more than 60 public company takeovers and restructurings, including deals across a wide range of industries, according to a statement from Carlyle.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wilson will be primarily focused on Australian projects for Carlyle. Carlyle has invested close to $2 billion of equity in eight transactions in Australia as of Jun 30, 2016.
Carlyle’s investments in Australia include Coates Hire Limited, Healthscope Limited and Qube Logistics. But the latter was handled by Carlyle’s global infrastructure buyout fund, rather than its Asian buyout fund.
Wilson was appointed to the foreign investment review board in December 2009 and became chairman in April 2012. He is also the chancellor of the University of Technology of Sydney, a non-executive director of Bell Financial Group and a member of the Payments System Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
This is the latest high-profile move in Carlyle’s Australian team. Simon Moore, the firm’s Australia country head, stepped down last December. He was replaced by his number two, David Bluff, earlier this year.
The Carlyle Group has $176 billion of assets under management across 127 funds and 164 fund of funds vehicles as of Jun 30, 2016.
