Anyone assuming that Lord Browne was headed off into a retirement dotted with a few sinecures like Tate Modern had better think again.
The former BP chief executive, who left the oil group early under an embarrassing cloud, is to run a newly-established European office for Riverstone, the US private equity firm specialising in energy.
In a statement hailing Browne’s appointment as managing director and managing partner of Riverstone Europe, Riverstone founders David Leuschen and Pierre Lapeyre declared:
He is a legend in the energy industry and we are very excited about him joining Riverstone. He is without question one of the most visionary, experienced and talented executives in the energy industry with an unparallelled global understanding. We are looking forward to Lord Browne helping us expand our existing energy practice and identifying new opportunities in the alternative and renewable energy markets.
New York-based Riverstone, which regularly invests alongside Carlyle Group, was founded in 2000 and has so far committed about $6bn across 41 investments. Its investment principles can be found here.
Browne’s job is full-time, apparently. On Friday Browne resigned his non-exec position as chairman of the advisory board at rival PE house Apax Partners.
Let the speculation on his first target for Riverstone commence.
