Description

A results-oriented and hands-on Integration & Transformation Technology professional with a focus on M&A and over 20 years' line, operations, consulting and international programme management experience in IT and Business within senior Technology roles in large corporations, specialised in addressing the needs and issues clients encounter during their digital transformation.

He has advised on 45+ M&A transactions (integrations & carve-out), and led over 100 global projects and programmes, managing over 150 virtual team members across more than 30 business units, on £m assignments ranging from months to 3 years in duration. He is French bilingual, Prince 2 and Scrum Master certified. Recognised as a go-to person for large scale “troubled” projects turnaround and author of the “50 Golden Rules of Project Management” book (over 10,000 copies sold).

Logistics/Shipping, TMT (Telecom, Media, Tech), Internet of Things (IoT), Consumer Electronics, Real Estate, Leisure, Education, Finance, Health Tech, Defence, Consulting and Public sectors' experience.

Industry field of expertise

Languages

French
Native or bilingual
English
Native or bilingual

Workplace preferences

Can work on-site

London (up to 50km)

DFDS – Shipping & Logistics
GROUP HEAD OF TECH M&A
TRANSPORTATION
May 2023 - Today (3 years and 1 month)
London, United Kingdom
Part of the IT Leadership team, reporting to the CTO, responsible for setting-up DFDS Tech M&A team & repeatable processes from scratch (PMs, BAs, Tech Architect, IT M&A Playbook and Blueprints), to facilitate prioritisation and successful IT integration of backlog and future acquisitions/divestments across Logistics and Ferry divisions

Working closely with DFDS senior/CxO management team and acquired companies, across multiple workstreams (IT, Finance, Ops, HR, Sales, Legal, Procurement, 3rd party IT providers, ….)

Ensure costs, synergies, dependencies, risks & complexity are understood as early as possible

In charge of 4 M&A IT integrations across NL, UK&I, Nordics, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, … , with one already fully integrated within 3 months, whilst the more complex ones will take up to 3 years

One of the acquisitions requires the integration of 80+ IT systems, 300+ data flows, and related IT staff, including move from seller shared SAP ERP system to DFDS D365 Finance platform, by coordinating activities across 17+ IT workstreams and 180+ team members across EMEA

Succeeded in implementing more mature processes & budget management, providing greater estimates accuracy (cost, timing), securing £m IT budgets, faster teams' mobilisation and quick-wins delivery, greater visibility, better risks and technical fit assessment; ultimately raising IT's profile, IT teams' confidence, and IT's ability to deliver integrations in a controlled & repeatable way
PMO Team management Digital Transformation Project Management
BearingPoint
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION/SEPARATION M&A LEAD
CONSULTING AND AUDITS
January 2022 - April 2023 (1 year and 3 months)
London, UK
Part of the UK senior management team, providing M&A advisory services to mid-cap/large European corporate & PE clients, where technology is focal to their strategy. Supported by the firm 4,200+ employees across 24 countries. Including business development and practice growth support

Supporting CxOs with their M&A and strategic technology portfolio transformation agenda

Value creation insights and levers (incl. IT Strategy, revenue enhancement, cost optimization, risk avoidance, RPA/automation opportunities, operational improvements, IT M&A playbook)

Technology transformation programmes in a M&A context (incl. measuring organizational readiness, digital maturity assessment and benchmarking, IT roadmap design & costing)

Buy-side and sell-side carve-out direction to clients and project teams, pre-deal carve-out situation evaluation, carve-out assumptions, costs and risks, carve-out execution, Day-1 readiness, TSA management & exit planning, transition to the standalone perimeter

Pre- and post-deal M&A integration initiatives including synergies capture, planning, integration model development, Integration Management Office (IMO) support, integration roadmap design & execution
Grant Thornton (GT) – Business & Technology Consulting
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR/TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY
CONSULTING AND AUDITS
January 2019 - December 2021 (2 years and 11 months)
London, UK
Providing specialist expertise across a wide range of advisory and hands-on delivery projects across GT Deals, Enterprise Applications, Technology Transformation and Restructuring service lines

Developed vendor/buyer IT and Cyber Security DD (Due Diligence) and IT Separation/Integration Blueprints, for care homes, finance, legal, engineering, transport, legal, publishing industry & PE (Private Equity) cross-border clients, helping them identify standalone, transition, TSA costs and timelines, as well as risks and synergy opportunities

Led Oracle ERP upgrade for a leading building material producer, incl. onshore/offshore DevOps

Supported Data Lab MVP (Minimum Viable Product) set-up for a global Telco provider, using SaaS AI enabled SW, Cloud & Data Visualisation to deliver £1 m billing savings via reconciliation automation

Led multiple "troubled" digital transformation implementation programme reviews (ERP/CRM/BI/Web) for media, insurance & public clients, incl. "crisis-management" meetings and recovery plan delivery

Bid support & development of business opportunities, marketing material, tools, and insight papers