Cameron turns to buyout firm Bain for post-Downing Street gig

David Cameron has agreed to take on a potentially lucrative engagement for Bain Capital, the private equity firm which bought a unit of the NHS during his tenure in Downing Street.

Sky News has learnt that the former Prime Minister is to speak at a private event to be attended by investors in Bain's funds and advisers to the firm.

It is thought to be a one-off arrangement rather than an ongoing role for Mr Cameron, and it was unclear on Thursday how much he would be paid for speaking at the Bain event.

Nevertheless, it is understood to be the one of the first corporate engagements that Mr Cameron has agreed to since he resigned on the day of his European Union referendum defeat in June.

Earlier this week, it emerged that he had been approved by parliament's sleaze watchdog to take on the chairmanship of the National Citizen Service Patrons, an organisation which aims to prepare teenagers for the workplace.

Mr Cameron quit as an MP last month following a string of policy announcements by Theresa May, his successor, with which he is said to have strongly disagreed.

He is now expected to assemble a lucrative portfolio of roles, with his earnings expected to be boosted by individual speaking engagements for which he can charge tens of thousands of pounds.

The decision to speak at an event organised by Bain could raise eyebrows, following the buyout firm's £230m investment in Plasma Resources UK - a major supplier of blood plasma to the NHS - in 2013.

The business subsequently became part of Bio Products Laboratory Ltd, which was 80%-owned by Bain and 20% by the Department of Health.

In May, BPL (BSE: BPL.BO - news) was sold to a Chinese investment group called Creat in a deal worth £820m.

A person close to Bain pointed out that Mr Cameron would not have been directly involved in the sale of the blood plasma unit in 2013.

Bain is one of the world's largest buyout firms, owning stakes in prominent British companies such as Worldpay, the payments group.

On Thursday, it was forced to scrap the flotation of TI Fluid Systems, a car parts manufacturer, amid increasingly hostile market conditions for companies seeking to go public.

Its credit arm, Sankaty Advisors, is a shareholder in Biffa, the waste recycling group which is also trying to complete a stock market listing this week.

Bain was co-founded by Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential candidate.

Sources said it was unlikely that the former Prime Minister would be required to seek the approval of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments to undertake the speaking engagement unless it was organised by an agency with which he would have an ongoing relationship.

Last month, George Osborne, the former Chancellor, was cleared to join the books of the Washington Speakers Bureau, a lucrative sideline to his ongoing job as an MP.

A spokesman for Bain Capital declined to comment, while Mr Cameron's office did not respond to an email seeking comment.