Roland Berger Strategy Consultants appoints new international Partners

• 21 new Partners appointed, 6 in Germany
• 6 Partners promoted to the next Partner level

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants has appointed 21 new international Partners, 6 of whom will be based in Germany. The new Partners will work at offices from Casablanca to Tokyo. In addition, 6 Partners have been promoted to the next Partner level. With these appointments at the International Partner Meeting in Munich, the strategy consultancy is expanding its Partner base and strengthening its worldwide presence.

Jan Beckeman (40) is now a Partner in the Stockholm office. He previously headed the Strategy & Organization Group of a large consulting firm and coordinated their process industry activities in the Nordic region. His main focus of activities as a consultant is business strategy, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions for multinational enterprises and investors, and ventures in high-tech industries (such as telecoms) as well as more traditional process industries.

Laurent Benarousse (36) worked for the French ministry of defense before joining a French management consultancy. In 2004 he came to Roland Berger and, in 2008, became Managing Director of the Casablanca office which he built from scratch and made into a top-tier player in the Morocco market. He is an expert in corporate strategy and turnaround management. Most of his clients are in public administration, energy and the environment.

Razmig Boladian (36) has over 10 years of experience in strategy consulting in both the US and Middle Eastern markets. He joined Roland Berger in 2006 as one of the co-founders of the Middle East practice, and is currently spearheading the growth of the firm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with his specialized knowledge of various industries. His project work has included improving performance for senior management and investment funds.

Francisco Javier De Paz Lagar (44) has 20 years of industry and consulting expertise in the telecom and media industries. He is returning to Roland Berger's Madrid office after 2 years as Chief Marketing Officer at ONO, a leading Spanish cable operator. Prior to 2005, when he first joined the company, he was co-founder and managing partner of Intélica Venture Management and held posts at other consultancies. He has been involved in assignments in many regions such as the Americas (Brazil, Colombia, US), Africa and Middle East (Morocco, Bahrain) and Europe (Western, Central and Eastern).

Pedro Galhardas (39), based in Lisbon, rejoins Roland Berger's Energy & Chemicals and Consumer Goods & Retail Competence Centers in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Brazil. He started his career at Roland Berger in 2000 and left the company in 2006 as Principal. Before his return to Roland Berger he held various managing positions at Galp Energia, the only Portuguese oil and natural gas operator and the largest Portuguese company in terms of market capitalization, where he finally was Member of the Management Committee Spain. His expertise includes Corporate Finance and Corporate Strategy & Organization as well as the sectors Energy & Chemicals, Transportation and Consumer Goods.

Paul Jowett (51) joined our Munich office as Partner in the Corporate Finance Competence Center in November 2010. He supports our clients in private equity and due diligence work. He has been in consulting for over 20 years. As managing director of various global consulting companies, he led their private equity business and developed growth and acquisition plans for clients. Jowett has worked on commercial due diligence projects for approx. 80 private equity firms and was responsible for more than 450 projects on both the buy and sell sides.

Klaus Juchem (38) has more than 13 years of professional experience, 10 of which he has spent in management consulting. He began his career at a German regional bank and joined Roland Berger in 2000, specializing in the financial services industry. Juchem supports a number of banks in developing their strategy and optimizing their organizational structure and product portfolio.

Stephan Keese (36) gained professional experience with various automotive companies before joining Roland Berger's Automotive Competence Center in 2001. Over the last 10 years, he has worked with leading automotive players around the world. His expertise ranges from growth strategy to cost reduction and restructuring, from purchasing to sales and marketing, and from engineering efficiency to electric vehicles along the entire automotive value chain. Since 2009, Keese has been based in São Paulo, Brazil, and is responsible for Roland Berger's automotive practice in Latin America.

Thomas Klotz (53) has over 25 years of professional consulting experience. He focuses primarily on financial services clients across Asia in the firm's Financial Services Competence Center. He has worked for clients in Asia and Europe on issues related to strategy, leadership and organization, operations, M&A and private equity. He also leads the firm's South East Asia office in Singapore. Prior to joining Roland Berger, Klotz held Partner positions in several other leading international consulting firms, with overall management responsibilities for Taiwan, for Greater China, and for Asia-Pacific Financial Services at various stages in his career. His experience includes projects for both multinational and local clients across Retail Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, Private Banking, and Life and Non-Life Insurance. In addition to Financial Services, Klotz has served clients in consumer goods, automotive and industrial, transportation, telecoms and media, as well as diversified conglomerates – many of them family-owned.

Nadezhda Larina (30) has 8 years of experience in consulting mining and metals companies, both in audit and management consulting contexts. She has worked with the largest mining and metals companies in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as well as with international producers on market and product strategies, business process reengineering, operating performance and production efficiency improvement. Larina joined Roland Berger in 2005, where she has supported clients in the steel, non-ferrous, automotive and engineered products industries. Together with the CIS Managing Partner, she heads the Corporate Performance Competence Center and the Metals and Mining Practice Group in Russia and Ukraine.

Ralph Lässig (42) rejoined Roland Berger in 2010 as Partner in the Engineered Products & High Tech Competence Center in Munich. He began his professional career in 1996 and has extensive experience in machinery and production systems. His skills include developing corporate and business strategies, launching revenue enhancement programs, restructuring and boosting performance, optimizing business processes and supporting post-merger integrations.

Paolo Massardi (39) is based in Milan. He has more than 14 years of professional experience, 4 of them as a logistics and supply chain manager at Procter & Gamble at the EMEA headquarters in Brussels and 10 in management consulting. After relevant experience in another consulting firm in Milan, he joined Roland Berger in Brussels in 2003 and then moved to Milan. Over the years he has acquired skills and projects in numerous areas such as energy & chemicals, consumer goods & retail, engineered products and financial services.

Dr. Oliver Merkel (34) joins Roland Berger's Consumer Goods & Retail Competence Center in Munich from a leading international strategy consultancy. He is an expert in the retail sector where he has supported clients in online and multichannel strategies, post-merger integration and private label development. Merkel has extensive experience in food retail, consumer electronics and fashion.

Per Martin Nilsson (49) was a director in the Nordic Business Unit of a large consulting firm, where he headed the Automotive Manufacturing Group. In total, he has more than 21 years of experience in management consulting. He has given a number of speeches on areas such as powertrain technology and the automotive/ EPHT supply industry. Per M. Nilsson has his main functional domain in operations strategy. He will act as Roland Berger's Nordic marketing manager.

Per Ingemar Nilsson (53) joined Roland Berger's Stockholm office in October 2010. Prior to that, he was a director at the Sweden-based office of a large consulting firm and Global Head of the Technology & Innovation Management Group. He has been gathering management consulting experience since 1988. Prior to this he worked for 6 years for an automotive manufacturer where he was project leader for the development of a new car model. Per I. Nilsson has his main domain in Operations Strategy and R&D. He will act as Roland Berger's Nordic Management Director.

Jan Olovsson (50) joined Roland Berger's Stockholm office in October 2010. He has 23 years of experience as a consultant, 17 years of it at the Nordic office of a major consulting firm. His main areas of expertise are purchasing, manufacturing, distribution and supply chain management.

Burkhard Oppenberg (47) joins Roland Berger's Financial Services Competence Center in Frankfurt after almost 20 years in the financial services industry where he has held leading positions in operations and IT. He has extensive line experience with responsibility for more than 500 people as well as annual budgets of several hundred million Euros. In addition, Burkhard Oppenberg was not only responsible for a broad range of projects, but was also involved in setting up the in-house consulting unit within a leading bank in the German cooperative sector.

Sven Siepen (38), based in Zurich, started his career with Roland Berger at the beginning of 2000. Besides working for various clients in the engineered products and high-tech industry in Europe, Asia and North America, he has a passion for the telecommunications industry. His specialties include operational excellence, cost reduction and corporate strategy. His multiple projects for a leading global building materials producer made him an expert in the cement, concrete and aggregates business, but he is at home in engineered services as well. He has supported CEOs of multinational players in various topics from operational excellence to energy management.

Paul Sloman (42) joined the company's London office and is responsible for providing solutions to operational strategy problems for clients. He started his career at Westland Group in 1988, and subsequently worked at Rover Group and at international consultancies. His main projects have given him broad-based methodological expertise in the automotive, aerospace, engineered products and consumer goods industries and cover operations, due diligence, procurement, lean production, product cost reduction, restructuring, service and aftermarket development as well as supply chain management.

Dr. Martin Tonko (42) is based in Tokyo. He has 10 years of professional experience, 2 of them in banking and 8 as a management consultant. He joined Roland Berger in early 2006, and since 2008 he has been a pillar of our Tokyo office. He focuses not only on the corporate performance of foreign companies in Japan, but also on sales strategies and operational excellence for Japanese and foreign financial services providers.

Dr. Stefan Webers (41) worked for a number of years as a financial controller at a large energy company before joining a leading consulting firm in 2001. There he gathered experience in a wide range of functional areas in the energy value chain. In October 2010, he joined Roland Berger's Energy & Chemicals Competence Center in Düsseldorf.

Partners promoted to the next Partner level:

Dominique Gautier (44), based in Paris, has 16 years of experience in management consulting. After working for the Lagardère group (Hachette Éditions), then in management consulting, Gautier joined Roland Berger in 2000. He heads the Public Sector Competence Center in Paris and also contributes to the development of Roland Berger in North Africa and in the media sector.

Dr. Frank Heideloff (42), based in Hamburg, has more than 15 years of professional experience, split between management consulting and executive positions in industry and banking. He has worked throughout Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East. Heideloff joined Roland Berger as a Partner in the Financial Services Competence Center in 2009. He specializes in strategy, restructuring, corporate finance, risk management and IT for commercial banks as well as public sector banks. His consulting experience ranges from midsized companies to global players in industry and financial services, as well as work for private equity funds.

Dr. Thomas C. Knecht (37) is a Partner in the company's Corporate Performance Competence Center in Munich and Berlin. His professional career started in investment banking. Before joining Roland Berger he worked for the restructuring practice of a competitor in Munich and New York. His expertise includes restructuring, strategic finance, distressed investments and mergers & acquisitions (distressed M&A) in various industries. He focuses on family-owned and mid-cap businesses and on strategic financial investors.

Patrick Müller-Sarmiento (37) has been working for the Consumer Goods & Retail Competence Center in Hamburg since January 2002. His work focuses on strategic realignment, brand positioning, customer-centric retailing, restructuring and turnaround management for major consumer goods businesses and retailers from all sectors.

Rupert Petry (37) is the Managing Partner of the Austrian office in Vienna. He joined Roland Berger in 1997. In 2001 and 2002, he was a Project Manager in the US, working primarily in the automotive and engineering sectors. He currently heads the engineered products, high tech and utilities team in Austria. His expertise also covers restructuring/ corporate finance and organization development, including activities in Central and Eastern Europe.

Jun Shen (39) works for the Shanghai office. He has 11 years of strategy consulting experience. He is head of the Automotive Competence Center (ACC) of Roland Berger in Greater China and has led many consulting projects for leading companies in the car industry covering a wide range of topics. Shen has in-depth knowledge and expertise in the areas of corporate growth strategy, merger and acquisitions, operational benchmark, organizational restructuring, and sales and marketing management.