Our Leadership
The Board of the Company is made up of highly experienced independent non-executive directors, with backgrounds that include accounting, finance, public and private markets and industry.
The Company believes that the composition of the Board, through strong and effective leadership, is a fundamental driver of the Company’s success. The current Board was selected to bring a breadth of knowledge, skills and business experience to the Company. The non-executive directors provide independent challenge and review, and bring wide industry, corporate and investment experience and a fresh objective perspective.
The Board meets at least four times per year and is responsible for the Company’s investment objective and investment policy and has overall responsibility for the Company’s activities.
Shonaid Jemmett-Page FCA
Chairman
Shonaid Jemmett-Page is an experienced non-executive director in the energy and financial sectors. Mrs Jemmett-Page spent the first 20 years of her career at KPMG in London and Tokyo, rising to the position of Partner, Financial Services.
In 2001, she moved to Unilever, where she was Senior Vice President, Finance and Information for Asia, based in Singapore, before returning to the UK as Finance Director for Unilever’s global non-food business. In 2009, Mrs Jemmett-Page joined CDC Group as Chief Operating Officer, a position she held until 2012.
Since 2012 she has focused on non-executive appointments and is currently the Senior Independent Director and chairman of the audit and remuneration committees of ClearBank Limited. She is also a non-executive director of Aviva Plc and a non-executive director of QinetiQ Group plc, as well as chairman of the audit committee. Until April 2023 Mrs Jemmett-Page was the non-executive chairman of Greencoat UK Wind Plc. Within the past five years she has also held roles as a non-executive director of Caledonia Investments plc, chairman of MSAmlin plc; and chairman, and then subsequently as a non-executive director of MSAmlin Insurance SE (a Belgian subsidiary of MSAmlin plc). Mrs Jemmett-Page is also the examiner of the UK branch of an Indian children’s cancer charity.
Sian Hill
Non-Executive Director (Senior Independent Director and Chairman of Audit Committee)
Sian Hill is a chartered accountant with experience principally within the financial services sector. Mrs Hill began her career practicing audit for KPMG in 1984, moving to specialise in tax in 1990. In 1996 she became a tax partner in KPMG’s financial services group, working with a range of financial institutions, including major listed banking groups, international insurance and reinsurance groups and intermediaries and investment managers.
She advised on a wide range of projects including mergers and acquisitions, disposals and reorganisations and also provided the tax input to the statutory audit of a number of financial services groups.
From 1999 until 2003, and again from 2008 until 2010, Mrs Hill also served as Head of KPMG’s UK Financial Services Tax group. From 2003 until 2006 she served as Head and Co-Head respectively of both KPMG’s UK M&A Tax and European M&A Tax groups and was a member of KPMG’s Global M&A Tax Steering Group. Mrs Hill also led KPMG’s response to Brexit for the insurance sector, helping clients formulate and implement their response to Brexit from early 2016 until her retirement from KPMG in 2018.
Since 2019 Mrs Hill has held a number of roles as a non-executive director. She is chairman of the audit committee of Yealand Fund Services Limited (previously Carvetian Capital Management Limited), is a member of the audit and remuneration committees of Suffolk Building Society and is chairman of the audit committee and a member of the remuneration committee of Apollo Syndicate Management Limited. Since 2014 she has served as a trustee of the UK children’s mental health charity Place2Be and is currently chairman of the finance and audit committee and member of the people and culture committee. Until August 2022, Mrs Hill had also held the position of non-executive director of Yealand Administration Limited.
Marten Pieters
Non-Executive Director
Marten Pieters is an executive with extensive international experience in the telecoms sector. From 1978 to 1984, Mr Pieters held company secretarial roles at Smilde Holding B.V., rising to Corporate Director of Finance and Strategic Planning in 1984 where he was responsible for various budgeting, financial reporting, policy, legal and fiscal matters.
In 1988 Mr Pieters joined Fano Fine Food Salades B.V. as CEO, where he was responsible for management restructuring, overseeing several corporate acquisitions.
Mr Pieters moved into telecoms in 1989 serving in various directorship positions, including as Managing Director for Telecom District Groningen from 1993 until 1995 and as Vice President of International Operations for PTT Telecom B.V. from 1995 until 1998. Between 1998 and 2003 Mr Pieters went on to hold various other positions within the KPN Group, the Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company, including Executive Vice President, where he was responsible for branch offices in Europe and the US, and later becoming a member of KPN’s Executive Management Board and CEO of the Division KPN Business Solutions, overseeing the operation of network solutions and equipment. During this time he sat on various other international supervisory boards, including the board of directors of Cesky Telecom, Eircom Ireland, Euroweb Corp, KPNQwest, and notably as chairman of the supervisory board of Xantic, a worldwide working provider of software solutions and satellite services. From 2003 to 2007 Mr Pieters served as CEO of Celtel International B.V., a company operating mobile telephone licenses in African countries, and from 2009 until 2015 he served as Managing Director and CEO of Vodafone in India.
Mr Pieters has held other board memberships including Vodacom Group S.A., Vodafone India Ltd and Indus Towers Ltd. He is currently chairman of the supervisory board for Open Tower Company B.V., the Dutch telecom tower operator, and a non-executive director of Tawal Towers Saudi Arabia, a telecom tower operator and subsidiary of Saudi Telecom Company, Investment Fund for Health in Africa BV, Stichting Social Investor Foundation for Africa and FC Space.
Simon Pitcher
Non-Executive Director
Simon Pitcher has over 20 years’ experience in international private equity. Mr Pitcher is a chartered accountant, spending the first six years of his career at PwC in London. In 2000, he moved to MetLife Investments where he was responsible for making and monitoring over $1 billion of mezzanine and private equity investments throughout Europe. Mr Pitcher is currently Global Head of Direct Private Investments at J Rothschild Capital Management Limited, the acting Investment Manager for RIT Capital Partners Plc.
In 2003, he left MetLife to become a founder member of Hermes Private Equity, a UK focused midmarket buyout fund, where he remained until 2007.
From 2007 to 2009 Mr Pitcher was a director at Blackwood Capital Partners (BCP), based in Sydney, Australia. While at BCP, a mid-market buyout fund with c.AUS$100 million under management, Mr Pitcher’s role covered all aspects of investment-related activity, including holding portfolio board positions, investor reporting and assisting with the fund’s financial reporting and compliance requirements. In 2009, Mr Pitcher returned to London, joining Standard Bank Private Equity, a US$800 million global emerging markets private equity business, as director, where he remained until 2011. During his time at Standard Bank, Mr Pitcher was particularly focused on its sub-Saharan African investments, fulfilling a senior deal execution role working closely with local teams.
In 2012 Mr Pitcher joined J Rothschild Capital Management (JRCM), as investment manager of RIT Capital Partners, a UK listed investment trust founded by Lord Rothschild, where he remains Head of Private Investments. His role encompasses deal execution, portfolio management and asset realisation across diverse sectors and geographies. Mr Pitcher has held several non-executive board positions representing JRCM, including six years at Helios Towers, a leading African telecom tower infrastructure company, prior to its London IPO.
Mr Pitcher is currently a non-executive director of Infinity SDC, a UK data centre owner and operator, a position he has held since 2013.
The operational team is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Company. The operational team consists of experienced individuals in finance, law, HR and Industry.
This combination of skills and experience is ideally suited to the effective management of a business such as Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Limited.
Steven Marshall
Executive Chairman
Prior to joining the Investment Manager, Mr Marshall was President of American Tower Corporation – US Tower Division. Whilst serving as President, AMT pioneered the network neutral telecommunications infrastructure model in the United States, Germany, France and 12 other countries in both communication towers and combinations of towers and fibre.
Mr Marshall had a material influence on making AMT the company it is today – the largest network neutral telecommunications infrastructure company in the world with a market capitalisation of over US$100 billion.
Prior to AMT, he built National Grid Wireless into the largest network neutral tower infrastructure provider in Europe. Subsequently sold to private equity interests, it became the core of Arqiva. He also developed and ran a US$1.5 billion fibre network in Brazil owned jointly by National Grid, France Telecom and Sprint. Most notable amongst his many acquisition and divestiture activities was his overseeing and the integration of leading two US$5 billion acquisitions whilst at AMT.
Mr Marshall is Chairman of Next Gen Access UK (a long-distance fibre developer) as well as a board member of Tawal – Saudi Telecoms newly formed Tower Subsidiary with 14,000 towers and Chairman of Paradigm Infrastructure, an African Tower Developer. Mr Marshall holds a BSc (Hons) in Building and Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester, as well as an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School, United Kingdom.
Jean-François Sauvé
Executive Chairman
Jean-François Sauvé has over 25 years of experience in the financial industry. He began his career at Barclays Bank in Toronto then, subsequently joined McLeod Young Weir Limited (rebranded ScotiaMcLeod Inc. and later Scotia Capital Markets). In 1993, he became a Director of the Corporate and Government Finance Department.
Thereafter, he was named President of Pictet Canada L.P., where he was responsible for the North American operations of Pictet & Cie. Mr. Sauvé is also a principal advisor to a major European family office. He is Chairman of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation. He completed his degree in Business Administration at l’école des Hautes études Commerciales (HEC Montréal) and later earned an MBA at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
Andrew Ewe, CFA
Chief Financial Officer
Andrew brings over a decade of experience in the infrastructure finance and investment space. Since joining in 2021, he has successfully led four strategic debt financing transactions for the fund at both the holding and operating company levels, totalling more than €1 billion in funding, sourcing capital from both banks and institutional investors.
Before joining Cordiant, Andrew was an investment banker at Investec, covering mergers and acquisitions and debt capital markets in the infrastructure and energy sectors. Prior to Investec, Andrew worked in the infrastructure advisory teams of Deloitte and Mazars, serving both private and government clients in project finance, capital raising, financial modelling and valuations. Andrew began his career in financial audit at Mazars, covering both listed and private companies in the Industry & Commerce group in London.
Andrew is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and holds a BA (Hons) in Politics from the University of Warwick.
Hagai Shilo
Managing Director
Hagai Shilo delivers 20 years of experience in private equity investing and exits, M&A and corporate finance. As a banker at JPMorgan and BNP Paribas, Mr Shilo has advised on ~US$2 billion of M&A and raised financing (including for early-stage growth companies) of ~US$7.5 billion.
Additionally, while working for two multi-billion family offices, Mr Shilo executed, as principal, the IPO of three portfolio companies on the LSE’s AIM market, raising an aggregate amount ~US$500 million. Mr Shilo previously worked in JPMorgan’s Technology/TMT Investment Banking Group. He holds a BA from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.
David Kippen
Managing Director
David Kippen brings a 25+ year background in M&A, corporate finance and private investing in the Telecom Media Technology (TMT) sectors, as well as energy and other sectors. He has worked on over 40 M&A transactions valued at over US$30 billion during this time.
In addition, he has worked on numerous private and public debt and equity financings in the TMT/Digital sectors and has been a board member of growth stage and digital businesses. He previously worked in JPMorgan’s Technology/TMT Investment Banking Group and subsequently moved to UBS before moving to a family office where he has overseen direct Private Equity investments. Mr Kippen holds a BA from McGill University and a Masters from Johns Hopkins/SAIS.
Stephen Foss
Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets
Stephen Foss brings over 30 years of experience in capital markets and investing, most notably at RBC Capital Markets, where he was a senior Managing Director. He was responsible for the International Equities business for Europe and Australasia and subsequently led a senior client coverage effort with a particular focus on sovereign wealth funds.
He subsequently joined the partnership of Merlin Partners LLP. Stephen was a member of the boards of Colombia-based Amerisur, Octant Energy plc (based in East Africa) and Nutraformis Ltd. He has served as a director of BOE Securities in South Africa. Stephen has a BA (Hons.) from the University of Western Ontario.
Atul Roy
Managing Director, Head of Telecoms Strategy
Mr Roy, is Cordiant Digital’s in house expert on trends and operations in relation to mobile towers and fibre. He works closely with Mr Moroney in providing both the team and portfolio companies with expertise in relation to network trends and effectiveness.
Mr Roy served as Head of Strategy of BT Group, the U.K.’s incumbent telecommunications operator, where he oversaw a network investment portfolio of £2.3bn. He also held senior roles in strategy and M&A at EE, the U.K.’s largest mobile operator, prior to its acquisition by BT Group for £12.5bn. He has been instrumental in creation of several site sharing agreements, including the U.K.’s largest such agreement between the mobile networks of EE and Three. He has a degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from Amravati University, India, and a Masters in Broadband and Mobile Communication from University of Kent, UK, where he is now also a visiting professor, (appointed by the Royal Academy of Engineering).
Kevin Moroney
Managing Director, Head of Network
Mr Moroney is Cordiant Digital’s in-house expert in broadcast infrastructure technologies and business strategies, bringing a deep understanding of both coming trends and operational effectiveness.
Mr Moroney is a Director of TVA Group (television audience, advertisement and IP streaming services), D2 Group (broadcast engineering) and Parkmore. He served as Commercial, Regulatory and Compliance Director at Arqiva (where he also managed the MuxCo business unit) and held executive roles as National Grid Wireless and Crown Castle. He is a graduate of City of Birmingham University.
Helen Grover
Chief Human Resources Officer
Helen Grover brings a robust background in HR. Previously serving as HR Director at University of Warwick and prior to this a vast experience within logistics where she was instrumental in navigating challenges related to acquisitions, Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Helen’s career also includes significant positions at E.ON, National Grid the NHS and within the broadcast industry at National Grid Wireless prior to and post-acquisition by Macquarie with Crown Castle. Helen has focused on employee engagement performance and talent management programmes but is also known for her passion for data-driven HR strategies and innovations working with leading higher education institutions building future talent pipelines in the private sector.
Helen holds a Masters in Business and Organisational Psychology, a Degree in Labour Studies, a qualified management and performance coach and is a Chartered Fellow of Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development.
Mandeep Mundae
General Counsel
Mandeep brings nearly 25 years of international infrastructure and legal experience, with a career that spans top-tier legal firms and major global investment institutions.
Throughout his career, Mandeep has built a reputation for successfully negotiating and closing complex infrastructure investment and financing transactions, leading strategic legal and commercial initiatives, and scaling high-performing legal teams. His expertise spans project finance, fund formation, acquisitions and divestments, stakeholder engagement, and cross-border regulatory structuring.
Most recently, Mandeep has served as an advisor to various infrastructure funds, including in the energy transition and transport sectors. Prior to that, Mandeep held several leadership positions at IFM Investors, including Executive Director for Infrastructure and General Counsel for EMEA and the Americas. Prior to IFM Investors, he was a senior lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills advising clients on major infrastructure projects, including construction, financings and acquisitions.
Mandeep completed an undergraduate law degree (LLB) with honours and an undergraduate commerce degree (BCom) majoring in finance at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
David Bonar
Treasurer and Group Tax Director
Mr Bonar is Treasurer of CORD and Cordiant. He will assist portfolio companies in optimising both financial reporting as well as operations (for example, in lease portfolio optimisation).
Mr Bonar held various executive roles at National Grid Group plc with significant responsibility in treasury, structured finance and M&A. He has also worked at JPMorgan Chase and Ernst & Young. A Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, he holds degrees from the University of Oxford as well as two degrees (Physics and Computing & Mathematical Science) from the Open University.
Lori Trotter
Managing Director, Head of ESG & Impact
Lori Trotter has 25+ years experience in the investment industry and is a long-time member of the Cordiant team, having previously overseen the office of the Chairman.
Over the years, Lori’s responsibilities have grown to include oversight of the Communications, Investor Relations and ESG & Impact functions. She began her career as a Procurement Officer in a large tech company and was responsible for negotiating and administering long-term contracts with international suppliers.
Lori has a B.A. from McGill University.