Steve Coates joined Warburg Pincus in 2003 from Permira where he specialized in European leveraged buyout transactions in industrial and consumer markets. At Permira (formerly Schroder Ventures) he also acted as the firm's U.K. business development director.

Previously, he was a corporate finance director for Arthur Andersen & Co. and also worked at 3i.

Steve received an M.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant.