New Zealand Rugby (NZR), the governing body for rugby union in the country, has named former player Richie McCaw as a director of its new commercial subsidiary formed with US private equity firm Silver Lake.

McCaw, who was appointed on June 30, is listed as one of six initial directors of NZR CommercialCo, the entity that was set up in late March to house the organization’s commercial rights as part of the Silver Lake partnership.

NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson, chairman Stewart Mitchell, board member Bailey Mackey, businesswoman Nicola O’Rourke, and London-based Silver Lake executive Simon Patterson are the other directors on the list.

The company is expected to be made up of nine directors once it is fully formed.

NZR finalized a protracted deal to sell a minority stake in its commercial business to Silver Lake in February.

Under the terms of the partnership, Silver Lake will initially invest NZD200 million ($128.5 million) for a stake of up to 8.58% in the new entity that will control NZR’s commercial assets.

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The deal values the NZR CommercialCo holding company at NZD3.5 billion.

The national body will retain full control over rugby as well as the commercial strategy.

McCaw, a two-time Rugby World Cup winner with the All Blacks, will be the representative of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA).

NZR CommercialCo will have a separate chief executive from NZ Rugby and it is understood that a global search has begun to appoint the right candidate.