- Padmanathan brings over 35 years’ leadership experience in power and renewables development, as well as a strong global network
- Appointment follows the announcement in March 2024 of the formation of a Permira team to focus on climate investment opportunities
London, New York, 26 June 2024 – Permira, the global private equity firm, today announced the appointment of Paddy Padmanathan as a Senior Adviser to its global climate investing team.
With over 35 years of experience in engineering and energy, Paddy brings a wealth of industry knowledge, leadership experience and a global network to Permira. He is widely recognised for his leadership as the former President and CEO of ACWA Power (~$70Bn current market capitalisation), where between 2006 and 2023 he successfully guided the company from its early beginnings to its current position as a leading developer, investor, and operator of power and renewables generation (over 50,000MW), water desalination (~8m m3/day), and green hydrogen plants (1.2m tons green ammonia). Today, he also advises and/or serves on the Board of Directors of several climate transition companies in the transmission, water, data center, and renewable energy sectors.
As a Senior Adviser, Paddy will play a valuable role in sourcing new investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, and supporting management teams as they drive value in Permira funds’ portfolio companies.
Paddy's appointment follows the announcement in March 2024 of the formation of a Permira team, currently eight dedicated investment professionals, to focus on climate-focused investment opportunities. The climate investment strategy, co-led by Kush Patel and another identified partner joining in 2024, seeks to invest across the climate ecosystem in both transition assets as well as transition enablers, with a particular focus on several thematic sub-sectors, including energy transition, resource efficiency, circular economy and grid modernization & resiliency.
Paddy Padmanathan said: “I’m excited to get started as a Senior Adviser at Permira. The team that is being assembled brings a wealth of sector specific experience which, combined with the firm’s global network and longstanding expertise in technology, services and sustainability, positions them uniquely to back emerging climate transition leaders. The team at Permira has focused its pipeline of opportunities on high-quality, impactful, growing businesses. In turn, I am looking forward to working with them and their portfolio companies to help accelerate growth and drive the energy transition forward.”
Kush Patel, Partner at Permira, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Paddy to Permira. His extensive experience across asset development and enabling supply chains coupled with his global network make him an invaluable addition to the team. We have a healthy pipeline of opportunities globally and look forward to working alongside Paddy to develop differentiated strategies to help climate transition businesses accelerate growth going forward.”
Permira’s Senior Advisers help management teams drive value by partnering both with them and the Permira investment teams to identify new opportunities and scale champions globally.
