Vistra has appointed Chris Collins as chief corporate development officer.
He joined Vistra in 2023 as global head of M&A, based in Singapore, to lead the establishment of Vistra’s M&A function
including deal sourcing, execution, integration and value creation.
Now, as a member of Vistra’s executive leadership team, he will be responsible for driving inorganic growth and corporate development activities, working together with other parts of the business to achieve Vistra’s ambitious long-term strategic growth goals.
Group CEO Simon Webster said: “Chris has made a significant positive contribution to the business since arriving just
over a year ago. He’s successfully executed on three acquisitions, most recently Phoenix American’s fund administration
and transfer agency business, expanding our presence and capabilities in the US market.
"As we move into our next 2-year era focused on growth acceleration, his executive level experience and outstanding track record in corporate development, M&A and business growth, both as a former advisor and private equity professional, will be invaluable in helping us to deliver our value creation objectives.”
Collins added: “I’m excited about the opportunity to take Vistra’s corporate development function to the next level and to play a leading role in identifying and delivering strategically accretive opportunities that build our scale in priority areas, including technology enablement.”
He has over 20 years’ global professional experience and began his career in M&A advisory and corporate finance,
where he spent a decade with PricewaterhouseCoopers based in Asia-Pacific, advising corporate and private equity clients
on M&A, divestments and capital raisings before moving into private equity at the portfolio level in 2016.
As part of the executive management team of a global logistics technology company, Containerchain, he held positions of chief corporate development officer, COO and ultimately managing director, prior to leading its successful exit by Australia’s CHAMP Private Equity to WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) in 2019.
Prior to joining Vistra, he was head of South-East Asia for Potential Capital, an Asia-Pacific mid-market private equity
firm focused on technology and services investing, a non-executive director for a growth stage technology company,
Shippit, supporting the business on its international expansion into Asia and a strategic adviser to several private equity and venture capital firms in Asia-Pacific on portfolio company value creation.
