Diploma-C

Kison Patel is the Founder and CEO of DealRoom, a lifecycle management software for financial transactions, as well as the author of Agile M&A: Proven Techniques to Close Deals Faster and Maximize Value.

In 2016, he started M&A Science, an educational podcast featuring behind-the-scenes stories from leading M&A practitioners. Now boasting over 25k monthly listeners and 370k downloads, Kison has expanded the M&A Science platform to include a training program, M&A Science Academy, allowing others to learn practical how-to’s they can easily apply to their own practices from active M&A professionals.

Paloma Lillo is an executive businesswoman with over 15 years of experience across investment banking at Citi, business development, M&A & Strategy at Telefónica, United Technologies and Otis Elevators. 

She lived and worked in North and Latin America, Europe, Africa and Middle East, fuelling her experience in and passion for Innovation, ESG and transformation of cultures.

Founder and co-founder of two start-ups in Peru and Mozambique, investor and advisor of several other start-ups, in love with Artificial Intelligence and learning languages, Paloma is mentor and speaker at MIT Sloan.

In 2005, Cédric Pierrard co-founded Efficy, a European CRM supplier today serving some 330.000 daily users in over 60 countries. Operating in a market where few large players meet a highly fragmented local offer, Cédric and his team ambition further consolidation and the establishment of Efficy as the European CRM champion. External growth is supported by acquisitions and, after a decade with more than 10 deals, Cédric accelerates the tempo and undertook four transactions in the past 12 months alone, thereby doubling the company’s size. A robust deal playbook, clarity of the integration principles and speed are among the work ingredients.

Louis de Schorlemer discusses the sensitive nature of M&A activities in communications, such as the importance of the appropriate strategic justification for a transaction. He provides guidance on how to communicate through times of uncertainty in a mindful way and lays out strategies for analytical mapping and putting people in the right mindset. And he asks challenging questions about transparency and preparedness―and shares the “Four Ps” (People, Patience, Perspective, Passion) he’s found to be instrumental for success.

This is an original recording made by Sharon McIntosh and Sharon Phillips as part of their EE Voice Podcast series. 

Dino Dogan has 25 years of experience in managerial and board positions in the telecommunication and media industry (Alcatel, Telekom Austria Group, Deutsche Telekom Group, JCDecaux Group).

He has been a guest professor at various faculties of economics and developed deep knowledge in logistics, finance, strategy, organization and restructuring.

As a management board member, he was responsible for the biggest merger in Austria between Mobilkom Austria and Telekom Austria. For the successful integration, he received the European Change Communication Award. Since 2017 he is the Dean of the Luxembourg School of Business and the owner of Macaklin ltd., a business consulting company focused on strategy, transformation and coaching for SMEs.

Serge Krancenblum is IQ-EQ’s Group Executive Chairman and Chairman of the company’s Supervisory board.

Throughout his career, Serge has developed and managed cross-border solutions for multinational corporations, institutional investors and entrepreneurial families. He serves as an independent director on the board of real estate and private equity funds, and of listed and private companies.

He is the Chairman of the Investment Facilitation Forum, the Luxembourg Association of Family Offices (LAFO) and President of the Luxembourg Association of Corporate Service Providers (LIMSA).

Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard is Chairman of the Board of Directors of publicly listed Calida Group in Switzerland. He is also Chairman of the Board of private equity owned auction house Bonhams in the UK and is a member of the Board of Directors of Barclays Bank (Suisse) SA.

Hans-Kristian is currently a CEO-Mentor with Mentore Consulting in London.

Hans-Kristian holds a BA in Economics and Organisational Behaviour from the University of Southern Denmark and has undertaken executive education at INSEAD, Harvard Business School and Wharton as well as non-executive education at IMD. He is co-author of “Experience Leadership in Practice”.

Alexander has spent more than 25 years working with entrepreneurs, private equity firms and private family businesses, developing deep knowledge of strategy, organisation and transformation.

In 2020, he co-founded Planet First Partners as a purpose-led evergreen investment platform to foster a healthier life on a healthier planet. His prior experience includes being a Managing Director at Verlinvest, a strategic advisor as a McKinsey & Co consultant and an entrepreneur as founder of thelittlegym.eu and twinscapegroup.com.

Alexander Strahl co-leads the Korn Ferry EMEA Technology, Communications and Professional Services practice and provides his clients with more than 20 years of leadership advisory and executive search experience, including work in phases of critical leadership transition.

He has gained a wealth of international experience, having been a trusted partner to leading private, large public and private equity-backed companies.

In this episode, we explore the duties of leaders in M&A, what to look out for from current and future executives, and the importance of leading by example in change management. 

Gwendoline Ornigg leads communications with UCB, a global biopharma company, and steered across numerous transactions for large multinationals throughout her career including Cargill and AB InBev.  In this episode of Diploma-C, we discuss the critical impact of cultural assessments and proper communications on integration, establishing sustainability as a shared vision of the companies' role in society.