Waldemar Szlezak, a representative of Soros Fund Management, was appointed as a non-executive director this week.

GPG expects to have liquidated its investment portfolio by the second half of the year.

The septuagenarian investor now holds 26.9 million shares, or 1.8% of GPG's voting rights.

The London-headquartered company is firmly focused on getting rid of its last five assets and dealing with its UK pensions, which face a shortfall in funding.

Guinness Peat Group expects to rebrand itself as UK threadmaker Coats, its biggest asset, in the second half of 2013.