Allied Minds makes CEO appointment permanent

Allied Minds, the life-science and technology intellectual property investor, has made Jill Smith's appointment as chief executive permanent, having hired her on an interim basis in March.

Smith had been a non-executive at the US-focused FTSE 250 company since January 2016, when she brought 16 years experience as CEO of private and public companies in the technology and information services markets.

Peter Dolan, chairman of Allied Minds, was "delighted" as is usual in these situations and highlighted Smith's "extensive operating experience, including most recently as CEO of DigitalGlobe where she reset the business direction to successfully drive growth and led the company through its successful IPO".

"Her accomplishments align with our overarching priority at Allied Minds: to deliver shareholder returns by driving accelerated commercialisation and monetisations at our key subsidiaries, and building a growth engine of new investments."

Under Smith's interim leadership in April, Allied Minds wrote off seven of its investee businesses as it looked to reallocate capital and management resources across the portfolio to accelerate commercialisation of areas where it sees most potential.

On Tuesday she added: "In the time that I have been interim CEO I have been impressed with the industry leading position of our key subsidiaries, power of our origination platform and the passion and dedication of the team. I am excited by our future prospects and look forward to delivering on our evolving strategy to enhance shareholder value."