All mandates
Reference QC-25-031
Group Chief Financial Officer
Client
Family-owned engineering group, Bavaria
214
Mapped
61
Approached
5
Shortlisted
14
Weeks to appointment
Practice
Finance
Partner
Daniel Okafor
Year
2025
Situation
A family-owned engineering group with revenue of around one billion euros was preparing its first capital markets financing. The long-serving finance director was retiring, and the family wanted a CFO who could speak to investors without losing the culture of the business.
Approach
We spoke to the finance team, the auditors and two of the group’s banks before writing the brief. The longlist drew on CFOs and deputy CFOs from listed industrial companies and from private equity portfolios with recent debt transactions.
Every shortlisted candidate met the family twice, once with the chair and once at the company’s main site.
Result
The appointed CFO joined from the deputy role at a listed industrial company. A year later she led the group’s first bond issue, which closed oversubscribed.
Outcome
Appointed in week fourteen. Led the group’s first bond issue a year later.