A former boss of Virgin Money boss is joining Britain’s fourth-biggest home energy supplier as it explores options including a merger with one of its biggest rivals.
Sources said her appointment would be announced later on Thursday, alongside those of Miguel Gaspar Silva and Andy Cox to the board of Kaluza, Ovo Group’s technology arm.
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As part of the overhaul, Justin King, the former J Sainsbury chief, is stepping down as group chairman, insiders said.
Dame Jayne-Anne’s appointment comes at a crucial time for Ovo, which Sky News revealed this month is in the early stages of merger talks with Scottish Power.
It is also separately running a process with potential investors to secure an additional £300m of financial backing.
In a statement released to Sky News, Ovo said Dame Jayne-Anne’s “understanding of consumer markets and regulatory frameworks will be instrumental in guiding OVO’s continued evolution and navigating the dynamic energy landscape”.
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The Kaluza board appointments are designed to help the Ovo-controlled division accelerate its international expansion.
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Last weekend, Sky News revealed that Kraken Technologies, which is owned by rival Octopus Energy, is being prepared for a demerger, which could value it at about £10bn.
Kaluza recently bought Beige Technologies, an Australian energy software specialist, in order to strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Founded by Stephen Fitzpatrick, the entrepreneur who now owns London’s Kensington Roof Gardens, Ovo’s shareholders include the private equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Mitsubishi Corporation, the Japanese conglomerate.
Under Mr Fitzpatrick, who launched Ovo in 2009, the company positioned itself as a challenger brand offering superior service to the industry’s established players.
Ovo’s transformational moment came in 2020, when it bought the retail supply arm of SSE, transforming it overnight into one of Britain’s leading energy companies.
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Its growth has not been without difficulties, however, particularly in relation to its challenged relationship with Ofgem and a torrent of customer complaints about overcharging.
The group is now run by David Buttress, who was briefly Boris Johnson’s cost-of-living tsar after leaving the top job at Just Eat, as its chief executive.
Key to Ovo’s longer-term valuation will be the performance of Kaluza, which was set up to license software to other energy suppliers and provides customers with smart electric vehicle charging and heat pumps, as well as intelligent energy solutions to commercial customers.
Ovo announced last year that AGL Energy, one of Australia’s biggest energy suppliers, had bought a 20% stake in Kaluza at a $500m (£395m) valuation.
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The British energy company has also entered the electric vehicle car charging sector under the brand Charge Anywhere, adding tens of thousands of public charging points across the UK.
