Lions sponsor Howden lines up ex-Goldman partner for board amid fundraising

The insurance broker Howden Group is lining up a former Goldman Sachs partner to strengthen boardroom governance amid talks with investors about a multibillion-pound fundraising.

Sky News has learnt that Simon Dingemans, who spent years at the Wall Street bank as a senior adviser on mergers and takeovers, is close to joining Howden as a non-executive director.

Mr Dingemans would join the privately-owned company alongside Sir Jeremy Darroch, the former Sky boss who is expected to be named as its non-executive chairman in the coming months.

The appointments form part of efforts by Howden and its investors to beef up its corporate governance as it raises billions of pounds to strengthen its balance sheet.

A stock market listing in either London or New York is a possibility in 2029 or later.

After leaving Goldman, Mr Dingemans then became chief financial officer of GSK, the FTSE-100 pharmaceuticals group, had a brief spell as chair of the accounting watchdog and was a senior executive at Carlyle, the private equity giant.

He now sits on the board of WPP, the advertising and marketing services group.

Howden, which is named after founder and chief executive David Howden, has become one of the world's biggest insurance brokers, having scaled rapidly through a string of acquisitions.

A future listing would be likely to value it at as much as £20bn including debt, depending upon its performance in the coming years.

Last year, Mr Howden said internal share trading activity implied a valuation of well in excess of £10bn.

Assuming his appointment is confirmed, Sir Jeremy would replace Dominic Collins, an insurance industry veteran who has chaired Howden Group since 2015.

Mr Collins' retirement as chairman was confirmed by the company earlier this month, following a Sky News report.

He will remain with Howden as president emeritus.

Howden, which has gained wider prominence by sponsoring the British and Irish Lions rugby union team, has made waves in the insurance industry by raiding rivals for senior executives.

The company is in the midst of talks about a multibillion-pound capital-raising likely to involve selling equity to sovereign wealth funds and overseas pension funds.

Mr Howden has said publicly that an initial public offering (IPO) will take place by 2030 at the latest, although some in the industry believe it could come as soon as 2028.

A Howden Group spokesman declined to comment.

(c) Sky News 2026: Lions sponsor Howden lines up ex-Goldman partner for board amid fundraising