M&A TEAM
The M&A Team reports to the CFO of Danone Group. Following the refocus of Danone in 2007 on health with the redemption of Numico, the market leader of baby food and medial nutrition, and the sale of the biscuit business, Danone’s product portfolio has continued to change, both in terms of geographical expansion and sectors.
Over the past years the Group has been very active on the M&A & portfolio management fronts with key transactions, such as:
- the acquisition of White Wave in the US
- the disposal of Vega in Canada.
- the acquisition of the nutrition business of India's Wockhardt Group in August 2011, the acquisition of Centrale Laitiere du Maroc in 2013, the creation of a joint Venture with China Mengniu on Chilled Dairy in May 2013 and the acquisition of 10% stake in Mengniu in March 2014, the acquisition of Fan Milk International in October 2013.
- The unwinding of all of our partnerships with Mengniu in China
The M&A Team is split into 2 regional teams:
- one team, based in Paris, covering Europe & the Americas (SVP M&A, 2 project directors and 4 project managers).
- one team, based in Singapore and Bangkok, covering Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa (1 Director, 2 managers)
The M&A team is in charge of a large number of transactions, (on average, around 35 projects are ongoing at the same time: Joint-Venture, acquisitions and disposals) of which around 10 is completed on a yearly basis.
About the role:
As a member of the M&A team covering Asia Middle East Africa, you will actively participate to the inorganic growth strategy and execution of the Danone Group.
Main Responsibilities:
• Understand the industry with in-depth analysis with regards to Asia Pacific Middle East Africa regions
• Liaise with the Investment banks to identify potential opportunities.
• Work closely with the Corporate and regional strategy teams
• Lead the transaction process from origination to closing with a high degree of autonomy for the small and medium sized transactions and working closely with the M&A director on large transactions
• Report project development on a regular basis to the Director of the region,
• Present project analysis and transaction structure to the Director of the region, the Head of the M&A or the Group CFO.
• Organize and coordinate the due diligence process
• Coordinating with technical experts both internally and externally (bankers, audit firms, legal departments, HR etc.)
• Structure the projects from a legal and tax point of view, working closely with M&A Legal and the Tax teams
• In charge of valuation and modelling of the project in coordination with the business units, assessing financial and ESG impacts for the Group.
• Participating / leading negotiations with the targets and partners
• Preparation of integration plans to be handed over to the business teams
• Close cooperation with the business units to ensure operational success
This position is based in Singapore.
Your Profile
a) Professional experience:
• Master's degree in accounting, finance, economics, business or management from top tier schools
• CPA or CFA or similar professional qualification
• 8 to 10 years of solid M&A deal working experiences in Asia with proven track record (Banks, Corporate M&A,…)
• Full investment cycle experience preferred
• Operational finance experience is a plus.
• Overseas working experiences or multinational corporation working experiences
• FMCG / CPG experience is a plus
• Fluency in English
• Fluency in Mandarin will be a plus
b) Competences:
• Solid technical skills in corporate finance and accounting,
• Strong knowledge in valuation and financial modelling
• Autonomous and self motivated
• Analytical and structured
• Reliable and accurate
• Strong negotiation skills
• Strategic thinking
• Strong communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to communicate with the business units
• Ability to establish relations built on high level of trust
• Good process organizer
• Team leadership and proven people management
• Skills to work collaboratively with all levels of internal staff and external advisors as well as government officials
c) Personality:
• Pragmatic with business sense & Good investment judgment
• Sound business ethics
• Able to handle high workload and stress
• High level of energy
• Hands on
• Team spirit
• Flexible
• Humble
• Curious, Keen to learn.
• Open minded and good listener
• Interest in the F&B sector
• International profile
• Willing to travel (Asia-Pacific Middle East Asia and Europe)
About DANONE
Danone is an international company present on five continents. The group holds top positions in healthy food through four businesses: Fresh Dairy Products, Early Life Nutrition, Waters, and Medical Nutrition. Its mission is to bring health through food to as many people as possible. Danone has
over 190 production plants and around 100,000 employees. In 2015, the company generated sales of over €22 billion, with more than 60% in outside of Europe.
Listed on NYSE Euronext Paris, Danone is a component stock of leading social responsibility indexes including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Vigeo, the Ethibel Sustainability Index and the ATNI index.
