Former Lloyd's chief tipped to chair Brit

Nick Prettejohn, the former chief executive of the Lloyd's of London insurance market, has emerged as a leading candidate to become the new chairman of Brit Insurance, the FT reports.

Prettejohn joined Lloyd’s in 1995 and was appointed chief executive in 1999 until 2005. He then joined Prudential to head its UK business, leaving in July last year.

His most recent move saw him join Legal & General as an independent non-executive director, effective 2 November.

Current Brit chairman John Barton is set to retire once his term ends this month.

The report said Barton, chair since May 2008, will stay on into next year, according to people familiar with the company, to oversee the “contingent value” element of the cash that investors will receive for their Brit shares after its £888m ($1.38bn) takeover by private equity groups Apollo and CVC.

Tomorrow, Netherlands domiciled Brit will hold a shareholder meeting to vote on the proposed private equity takeover, which was recommended by the board at the end of October, the paper said.