ProNed management buyout gets go-ahead

PRONED, the organisation dedicated to the promotion of non-executive directors, will be sold by the Bank of England and its other sponsoring organisations to a partnership of management and Egon Zehnder International, the executive recruitment consultants, for an undisclosed sum, writes Roger Trapp.

The sale, described by a Bank spokesman as a 'privatisation in spirit', is seen as a recognition that ProNed's role in highlighting the importance of non-executive directors has been replaced by a more commercial approach.

Sir Adrian Cadbury, whose committee on the financial aspects of corporate governance also promoted the concept, will remain chairman. Colin St Johnston, managing director, and Bruce Rhodes and Diana Scott-Kilvert, fellow directors, will be joined by the eponymous Egon Zehnder, as well as representatives of the executive search firm. The partnership will be split between the management and Egon Zehnder, with the balance expected to shift in the recruitment firm's favour.

The payment for ProNed, which last year placed nearly 100 non-executive directors on a turnover of pounds 800,000, will be split between the sponsors in proportion to their original contributions.

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