The BOARD Brief Issue 8: Britain loses its third-biggest taxpayer

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Welcome to the eighth edition of The BOARD Brief. This week Europe's scaleup fund co-led two record rounds, CVC named its next co-CEOs, and Britain's third-biggest taxpayer prepared to move to Greece.

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BOARD MOVES

1. Europe's scaleup fund co-leads two record rounds in one week

Mistral raised €3 billion at a valuation of more than €21 billion, the largest equity round by a European technology company. Samsung led, with PSG Equity and the EQT Scaleup Europe Fund as co-leads.

The Exploration Company (TEC) raised $450 million, the largest Series C by a European space company, co-led by Bessemer, Atomico and the same fund.

Why it matters: The fund exists to close Europe's late-stage funding gap, which pushes companies to raise in the US or sell abroad. Hugging Face, started by three French founders, set up in New York after its first cheque came from a US investor. Nvidia confirmed this month it will acquire it for $12.9 billion.

• Mistral operates in 20 countries and serves 125+ enterprises, including Airbus, ASML and HSBC.

• The fund's disclosed investments now span AI and space across four countries: ICEYE (Finland), Lovable (Sweden), Mistral (France) and TEC (Germany).

2. CVC sets out its leadership succession

CVC Capital Partners has named Todd Sisitsky, TPG's president since 2021, and CVC president Peter Rutland as co-CEOs. They take over from Rob Lucas, CEO since June 2021, by Q1 2028. Lucas stays on the investment committees.

Why it matters: CVC's shares are down nearly 19% since its April 2024 listing, and its performance fee guidance for 2026 and 2027 came in below analyst forecasts as slower exits delay carried interest. Rutland runs the businesses driving growth: credit, secondaries and infrastructure now make up more than 55% of fee-paying assets, up from 49% a year earlier.

• CVC manages about €212 billion across seven strategies.

• Sisitsky spent 23 years at TPG. Rutland has spent 19 at CVC. 

3. Britain's third-biggest taxpayer is moving to Greece

Hedge fund founder Chris Rokos, who paid an estimated £330 million in UK tax in 2025, is preparing to move his residency to Athens. He follows Lakshmi Mittal and Nik Storonsky out of the UK. Greece charges a flat €100,000 a year on foreign income. Italy charges €300,000.

Why it matters: Higher taxes on the wealthy help close budget gaps but cut against another priority: competing with the US for founders and capital. California faces the same test. Six billionaires, including Peter Thiel and Larry Page, left ahead of a proposed wealth tax, taking nearly 30% of the state's billionaire wealth out of its tax base, according to the Hoover Institution.

• The UK replaced its non-dom regime in April 2025. Foreign income is now taxed after four years of residence.

• Official data show only a 0.5% fall in non-dom residents to April 2025, before the new rules took effect.
• Chancellor John Healey presents his first Budget on 28 October. 

BOARD 2027 Monaco Updates

BOARD 2027 brings together European CEOs, Chairs, Non Executive Directors and investors at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, 22–24 March 2027. Each week we introduce one speaker.

Jean-Dominique Sénard, Chairman of Renault Group. He led Michelin from 2012 to 2019 and co-authored the 2018 Notat-Sénard report that led to France's PACTE law on corporate purpose.

View the programme

DATA POINT OF THE WEEK

The ECB raised rates again. German borrowing costs are at 15-year highs

What's new: The ECB raised its deposit rate to 2.50% on 10 September, its second rise since the Iran war began, with euro area inflation at 3.3%. Germany's 10-year yield reached about 3.40% this month, its highest in more than 15 years.

Why it matters: Sovereign yields tend to pull corporate borrowing costs up with them. In the UK, rising borrowing costs are squeezing Chancellor John Healey's fiscal headroom ahead of the Budget.

(Data: European Central Bank)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"From ChatGPT to o1 to Astra in 4 years. AGI has arrived." Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, whose chips trained OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra. OpenAI itself has not called Astra AGI.

QUESTION

Jacob Coxon, an Anthropic researcher who previously worked at OpenAI, resigned this week, writing that both companies are "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives." Anthropic says that stage has not been reached.

Should AI development be regulated more tightly, or does regulation slow the innovation Europe needs?

• Matt Clifford will step down as ARIA chair on 6 November after a conflict of interest row over his new Anthropic role.
• The European Commission has proposed a single Public Procurement Act, covering spending worth 15% of EU GDP, under which being a European supplier can count towards contract scores.
• EQT has agreed to buy Warburg Pincus's majority stake in London broker McGill and Partners for $2 billion.
• Claret Capital Partners closed its fourth growth debt fund at €575 million, above its €500 million target.
• Uber and Wayve launched London's first robotaxi service, with a safety driver in each of 15 cars.
• The British Business Bank will commit up to £150 million to a new scale-up fund for the north of England.

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