Fund set up by top Tories is huge investor in firm behind Sunak family fortune
One of the biggest investors in the IT firm behind the Prime Minister's family fortune is a fund set up by two leading Tory politicians.
Somerset Capital Management LLP, founded by the Business Minister Lord Johnson, owns a £105m stake in Infosys, the Indian IT firm started by Rishi Sunak's father in law, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.
The shareholding was recently increased by around £18m shortly after Lord Johnson held a meeting with Infosys to discuss its "operations in the UK". But the Department of Business is refusing to reveal who attended the meeting or what was discussed.
Our investigation raises questions about potential conflicts of interest at the heart of Government. The Department for Business told us that Lord Johnson resigned from Somerset Capital before becoming a minister and that “has had no contact with the business since”. A spokesman added that “the ministerial code was followed at all times”.
The family of Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy founded Infosys (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)But Pat McFadden, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told the Sunday Mirror: “Government must always be conducted in the public interest. The private interests or shareholdings of ministers should never come into it.
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“Given the historic importance of the Infosys shareholding to Somerset Capital it is important that the details of the meeting involving a Minister who was one of Somerset’s founders and Infosys are brought into the public domain.”
It comes after news that Somerset Capital is set to close and its funds transferred to a new investment advisor, after its biggest client left, taking two-thirds of its assets. Lord Johnson was the Chief Executive of Somerset Capital Management but quit after 15 years at the company he started when he was appointed to the Government a year ago.
Former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg was another co-founder of Somerset Capital and remains a member of the LLP entitled to a share of the profits, which were £6.5m last year.
Infosys was founded by the family of Akshata Murty, Mr Sunak's wife, and her shares in the Indian firm are worth around £530m. Our sister paper the Daily Mirror revealed last year that Infosys has earned more £50m in public sector contracts in the UK.
Somerset Capital is a major investor in Infosys Ltd, owning 7,734,971 shares in the tech giant.
Lord Johnson co-founded Somerset Capital in 2007 with former Tory Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and a third partner in 2007.
He quit Somerset Capital in November 2022, the day before he was appointed Minister for Investment at the Department for International Development.
His meeting with Infosys took place on April 27 this year.
A Freedom of Information request for a copy of minutes of the meeting, along with a list of attendees and any "ministerial briefing documents" was rejected. The Department for Business accepted that "that there is a public interest in the disclosure of information, as greater transparency makes Government and decision making more open and accountable".
But it said that "it is important that companies can share commercially sensitive information with Government in the confidence that information will not then enter the public domain and damage their wider commercial interests and opportunities".
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Public records show that Somerset Capital further increased its shareholding in Infosys after the meeting took place. In December 2022, Somerset Capital Owned 6.6m Infosys shares. By June this year - after the meeting between Lord Johnson and Infosys - this had increased to 7.2m shares. By September this year it had further increased to 7.7m.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said that Lord Johnson “was never involved in any fund management decisions while at Somerset Capital and met with Infosys to encourage investment from India into the UK. As Investment Minister, Lord Johnson regularly meets with businesses and international investors championing the UK as Europe’s top investment destination and securing millions of pounds of funding to boost the UK economy.”
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