Sir Mike Rake in overdrive to chair roadside recovery firm RAC
CBI president Sir Mike Rake is the frontrunner to become chairman of the RAC breakdown recovery service.
The deputy chairman of Barclays is in talks for the role, ahead of the RAC’s potential £2bn stock market listing, according to Sky News.
The breakdown service, owned by private equity group Carlyle, is expected to announce its new chairman later this week.
Rake, who ruled himself out of the role of chairman at Barclays, also chairs BT Group, is a director of McGraw-Hill and is a member of the Prime Minister’s business advisory group.
Carlyle, which bought RAC from Aviva in 2011 for £1bn, has held early talks with private equity houses to explore a sale of the group, but a stock market listing is still considered the preferred option.
The RAC’s next chairman will replace Rob Templeman, who is expected to step down before the firm is floated.
Carlyle began weighing its options earlier this year and appointed investment bank Lazard as adviser.
Banks including Barclays, Citi, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have since been hired to act as bookrunners.
Yesterday, the RAC refused to comment.