Former Tesco chief executive Sir Dave Lewis has been hired by US-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in an advisory role.
CD&R said that Lewis, who spent almost three decades with FMCG giant Unilever before taking the top job at Tesco, will help it source and execute deals, as well as support its portfolio of companies across Europe, according to the Financial Times.
Lewis joins CD&R’s team of advisers, which includes another former Tesco boss, Sir Terry Leahy. Leahy, who joined CD&R in 2011 and chairs Morrisons, ran the UK’s largest grocer from 1997 to 2011.
Leahy said: “We need to add to our team because there are lots more opportunities… and you don’t want to have bottlenecks on growth.”
He added that CD&R had “never really been able to do a consumer deal”.
“They’ve all been retail deals and also we’ve never really done a leisure or consumer services deal,” Leahy said.
Lewis told the Financial Times he would not have “any formal involvement” with Morrisons or CD&R-owned Motor Fuel Group (MFG).
“If I have a remit, it is to think what investments might be added to the portfolio, but there’s already a fantastic team working on those two investments,” he said.
CD&R bought Morrisons in a £10bn deal in 2021 and also owns petrol station operator MFG.
Since CD&R acquired Morrisons, its sales have lagged behind the competition, to the point where it was supplanted by Aldi as the UK’s fourth-largest grocer by supermarket share.
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