In 1993, Mr. Osmond co-led the acquisition of Pizza Express and the substantial franchise buy-in to create the UK’s largest quoted restaurant group. He co-founded and acted as Executive Chairman of Punch Group and led the consolidation of the UK pub industry overseeing multiple acquisitions totalling some 8,000 pubs and £3.5 billion. Mr. Osmond co-founded Pearl Group, now Phoenix Group, and led the £1.1 billion acquisition of HHG’s closed life insurance businesses as well as the £3.0 billion acquisition of Resolution Plc in 2008, creating the largest life and pensions consolidator in Europe, listed in the FTSE 100 Index with a market capitalization of £4.6 billion. In 2014, Mr. Osmond became a substantial investor in Keepmoat and most recently led the acquisition of Capital Physio.

Mr. Osmond studied Medicine at The University of Oxford.

Mr. Jonas co-founded Wellington Pub Company in 1997 and co-founded Punch Group in 1998. As Punch Group’s Property Director Mr. Jonas played a major part in the financing and integration of acquisitions and business rationalization. Mr. Jonas was Executive Chairman of Punch Taverns’ tenanted business prior to its flotation and served as a non-executive director until 2004. In 2002, Mr. Jonas led the £465 million acquisition of the Center Parcs property portfolio from Deutsche Bank Capital. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Jonas served as Chairman of Pearl Group’s Asset/Liabilities Investment Management Committee. In 2007, Mr. Jonas led the €2 billion sale and leaseback of Santander’s Spanish branch network, and he subsequently led the €1.3 billion bond refinancing of Uro Property Holdings in 2015. Mr. Jonas is director of Carnegie Capital Estates, a real estate developer in the UK. Mr. Jonas is a substantial investor in Phoenix Group and Keepmoat.

Mr. Jonas studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at The University of Oxford.

Mr. Hawkes co-founded Pearl Group in 2005 (now Phoenix Group) and was instrumental in the £1.1 billion acquisition of HHG’s closed life insurance businesses. Mr. Hawkes co-led the £3.0 billion acquisition of Resolution Plc in 2008 and the £500 million reverse merger of Pearl Group into Liberty Acquisition Holdings (International) Company in 2009. In 2013, Mr. Hawkes led the £250 million equity raise of Phoenix Group.

Mr. Hawkes led the £372 million acquisition of Keepmoat in 2014 and the subsequent £330 million sale of its Regeneration Division in 2017. In 2018, Mr. Hawkes co-led the refinancing of the group, unlocking the growth potential of the Homes Division and growing revenue from £262 million in fiscal year 2015 to £650 million in fiscal year 2019 and delivering an operating profit of £59 million in fiscal year 2019 (calculated in accordance with IFRS).

Most recently, Mr. Hawkes helped to launch ilke Homes, the largest modular house builder in the UK, and is a member of the board of directors of ilke Homes.

Mr. Hawkes studied Economics and Management at The University of Oxford.

Mr. Osmond co-led the acquisition of Pizza Express in 1993 and took a lead role in restructuring the company and driving the subsequent major expansion of the chain. Pizza Express grew from 68 restaurants in 1993, the majority of which were franchises, to 367 restaurants in 2001 when Mr. Osmond left the company’s Executive Board. Mr Osmond led Pizza Express through its transformation into the UK’s largest quoted restaurant group, including by standardizing operating procedures to enhance the customer experience and engaging in a complex repurchase of its franchises. During the period Mr. Osmond was on the Board, Pizza Express’s net annual income increased from a net loss of £0.5 million for the financial year ended June 28, 1992 (prior to acquisition) to net profit of £38 million for the financial year ended June 30, 2002, and it became the UK’s largest quoted restaurant group.

The UK pub industry was undergoing structural change in the 1990s following an investigation by the UK Monopolies and Mergers Commission and resulting legislation that limited the number of pubs that the UK’s major brewers were permitted to own. In 1997, our management team began to consolidate the ownership of the UK’s pub sector through its controlling interest in Punch Group.

Our management team led more than £3.5 billion of acquisitions for Punch Group, creating the largest tenanted pub company in the UK. These acquisitions included: Punch Group’s initial acquisition of more than 1,400 leased pubs from Bass Lease Company Limited for an aggregate purchase price of £564 million in 1997; the purchase of Inn Business Plc for £145 million in 1999; and the £2.7 billion acquisition of all of
the UK retailing interests of Allied Domecq Plc in 1999. The team employed innovative financing structures, executing the first securitizations of both tenanted and managed pubs in the UK.

Our management team’s hands-on operational approach included managing the real estate portfolio to enhance value; effective cost control; an extensive investment program in previously underinvested pubs; leveraging Punch Group’s buying power to make the supply chain more efficient; broadening product offerings (including food at most locations); and reworking the pricing strategy across the entire group.

In 2002, our management team led the initial public offering of Punch Taverns.

In 2005, our management team founded Pearl Group (now Phoenix Group) to invest in the life insurance sector, which our team believed to represent a significant opportunity despite recent regulatory scandals that had depressed the value of companies in the sector. Our team led the acquisition of HHG Group’s closed life insurance businesses for £1.1 billion in 2005 and the takeover of Resolution Plc, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, for £3.0 billion in 2008. Both transactions employed financing strategies, using the cash flow from mature life insurance policies to support contingent bonds and bank debt. Our team also restructured the businesses’ operations, including by creating an asset and liability matching business called Axial Investment Management (now part of Standard Life Aberdeen).

In 2009, Pearl Group became listed on the London Stock Exchange via its reverse merger into Liberty Acquisition Holdings (International) Company (a Euronext listed acquisition vehicle) and changed its name to Phoenix Group. Today, Phoenix Group is the largest life and pensions consolidator in Europe and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index with a market capitalization of £4.6 billion as of June 12, 2020.

In 2014, our management team led the acquisition of Keepmoat for £372 million. Keepmoat provided refurbishment and maintenance services to UK governmental providers of social housing and built new houses in partnership with those same governmental bodies. Under its prior ownership, Keepmoat had been significantly leveraged with an estimated £960 million of debt, which our team reduced to £263 million at the time of acquisition. Our team believed that, with reduced debt costs, the housebuilding division would be well-positioned to capitalize on the market opportunity presented by the UK shortage of high-quality, low- cost housing.

Operationally, our management team managed the disposal of non-core assets, reinvesting the proceeds in the housebuilding division. In 2017, our team led the sale of the refurbishment and maintenance services business to ENGIE for £330 million and a refinancing of the housebuilding business. The housebuilding business has continued to grow its customer base and land pipeline, and it now sells over 4,000 affordable homes per year throughout the UK, making it the UK’s largest partnership homebuilder and the 6th largest housebuilder in the UK out of housebuilders that reported their annual results during the twelve-month period ended April 30, 2020.

In the year ended October 31, 2019 Keepmoat delivered sales of £650 million and operating profit of £59 million (calculated in accordance with IFRS).