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

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, England. His father was Kenneth Ambrose Borrows and his mother, Ailsa Nancy Borrows. Borrows was educated at the Rossall School. He graduated from the Queen Mary University of London, where he earned an LL.B, and he earned a master in business administration from the London Business School in 1985.

Career

Borrows worked for

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

in Hong Kong from 1980 to 1983, followed by Morgan, Grenfell & Co from 1985 to 1988, and Barings Bank 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 in 1994. He became an executive director and its chief investment officer in October 2011. In that capacity, he led the acquisition of Action 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 from 2011 to 2015. He also served as a non-executive director of British Land 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 Queenwood Golf Club is a golf club near Ottershaw in Surrey, England. The club is only open to members and their guests. The club was developed by the American entrepreneur Frederick D. Green. The American businessman Walter Forbes was also inv ...

in Ottershaw and the

St George's Hill Golf Club St George's Hill is a private gated community in Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom. The estate has golf and tennis clubs, as well as approximately 420 houses. Land ownership is divided between homes with gardens, belonging to home owners, and the ...

in Weybridge.

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