Cinven announces departure of two senior executives amid UK pricing probe

Dec 17 (Reuters) – International private equity firm Cinven said on Wednesday co-Managing Partner Supraj Rajagopalan and Chief Financial Officer Alex Leslie, who is also the chief operating officer, will step down from their roles and leave the firm.

Mike Colato, former CFO who currently serves as senior adviser, will take over as interim COO and CFO, the company said.

Rajagopalan’s departure comes as UK regulators consider asking a court to ban him over alleged price-gouging by a drugmaker previously owned by Cinven, the Financial Times reported. He decided to leave due to uncertainty created by the competition watchdog’s investigation, the report said citing people familiar with the matter.

“To focus on combating these unjustified claims, I have decided to step down from my role with immediate effect,” Rajagopalan said in a statement cited by the Financial Times.

Rajagopalan and Leslie did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In May, the Court of Appeal upheld the CMA’s finding of excessive and unfair pricing in the supply of liothyronine tablets in the UK, reinstating a penalty of 51.9 million pounds ($69.49 million) on Cinven.

Rajagopalan and Leslie have denied the allegations raised by the CMA and plan to challenge any disqualification proceedings, according to an earlier report by the Financial Times.

Cinven declined to comment on the reason for the management changes.

($1 = 0.7469 pounds)

(Reporting by Aatrayee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Lincoln Feast)