GPCA Legal & Regulatory Council Chair, Chief Legal Officer
-British International Investment (BII)
Mark Kenderdine-Davies is the Chief Legal Officer of British International Investment (BII) with oversight of the company’s legal, regulatory and tax affairs. In addition to leading the company’s legal and tax team, Mark is an experienced private funds investor having advised and sat on BII’s investment committee for many years.
BII (formerly CDC) was established by the UK Government in 1948 and is the world’s first development finance institution (DFI). Its mission is to support the building of businesses, to create jobs and to make a lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places. BII invests from its own balance sheet of US$7.3bn and returns from its investments are recycled into new investments.
BII provides capital in all its forms, including equity, debt, mezzanine, and guarantees, to meet the needs of its clients and achieve development impact. BII targets fund, direct equity and debt investment opportunities in Africa and South Asia. It also provides project, supply chain, and trade finance. As a responsible investor, it seeks to add value by helping companies achieve good standards of governance and adopt strong environmental, social and integrity policies.
Mark joined BII in 2006 from Gartmore Investment Management plc where he focused on private equity and other alternative investments. Prior to that, he advised at Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. From 1994 to 2002, Mark lived in Vietnam working in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar as General Counsel/Senior Investment Executive at Indochina Asset Management Limited, the manager of two private equity funds, and as Executive Director of an investment company. Mark started his legal career in London as a solicitor becoming a law firm partner.
Mark has an LLB (Hons) from the University of Liverpool and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mark is admitted to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and he chairs GPCA’s Legal and Regulatory Council. Mark is also a Member of the Legal and Regulatory Committee of the African Venture Capital Association.