Rothschild's Wright to take top UK Takeover panel role

By Anjuli Davies

LONDON (Reuters) - Senior Rothschild banker Crispin Wright was named head of the UK's Takeover panel on Thursday, putting a seasoned dealmaker in an influential role overseeing merger and acquisitions activity in Britain.

Wright, 54, will take up the appointment as director general on July 1 on a two-year secondment from Rothschild where he is currently a managing director in the advisory business, the Panel said in a statement. He will replace Citi banker Philip Robert-Tissot.

M&A activity in Britain has picked up this year with foreign investors snapping up British companies at the fastest pace in eight years as an unusual combination of stronger economic growth and a weak currency lures U.S. buyers despite political uncertainty.

The Panel, which administers Britain's code on takeovers and regulates deals to ensure fair treatment for investors, adopted tougher rules in 2011 designed to tip the balance of power back towards acquisition targets.

That move came in response to the acquisition of chocolate maker Cadbury by Kraft, which sparked public anger after the U.S. buyer reversed a promise to keep a plant open.

In September 2014, the Panel also proposed news rules to strengthen its governing code to address pledges made by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in its unsuccessful pursuit of British drugmaker Astrazeneca.

Wright, at Rothschild since 1998, has worked on some of Britain's biggest takeover tussles, including Severn Trent's defence against a consortium led by Canada's Borealis in 2013 and British airport operator BAA's sale to Spanish construction firm Ferrovial in 2006.

"He has a broad range of experience acting for clients across a wide range of different industries on listed company buy and sell side transactions, including hostile bids and bid defences," the Panel said in a statement.

(Reporting By Anjuli Davies, editing by Freya Berry)