The number of international partners is expanded

• 14 new Partners elected, including 6 external experts
• 3 Partners promoted to the next Partner level

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants has elected 14 new international Partners; three Partners were also promoted to the next Partner level. The new Partners are working at various offices including Paris, Bucharest, Düsseldorf and Tokyo. These elections held at the international Partner meeting in mid-June in Madrid increases the number of Roland Berger's Partners and strengthens its global presence.

Principals now Partners:
Max Falckenberg (38) has been working for the Corporate Performance Competence Center in Düsseldorf since 2000. He studied business at the Universities of Passau and Berkeley and at Humboldt University in Berlin. He started his career at KPMG. Falckenberg's specialties include restructuring, M&A and corporate performance programs.

Jochen Gleisberg (36) studied economics at the Universities of Marburg, Gießen and Charleston/USA. In 1998, he joined Roland Berger as a Consultant in the Operations Strategy Competence Center. His specialties include organization and process optimization, change management and strategic realignment, especially in the automotive and high-tech industries.

Dr. Alex Kesseler (38) has been with the Paris Roland Berger office since 2002. He focuses on consulting for industrial companies and private equity businesses. Prior to joining Roland Berger, he worked in sales at Siemens VDO Automotive in Rambouillet/France and as Senior Manager at A.T. Kearney in Paris, Munich and New York. Kesseler studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen and received his Ph.D. in management science from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.

Matthias Lorenz (37) studied business at the Universities of Osnabrück and Kiel. In 1996, he started his career working in controlling for Preussag. Two years later he joined Roland Berger Strategy Consultants as a Consultant. He has been a Principal since 2005 in the InfoCom Competence Center. Lorenz has managed many strategy projects that included boosting efficiency and sales, and pushing product development in the telecommunications industry.

Dr. Satoshi Nagashima (38) works at the Tokyo office and focuses on the automotive and transport industries. He also leads Roland Berger's Japan Desk in Europe and advises leading global Japanese companies on strategies and
organization in Europe. He studied material science at Waseda University from 1987 to 1993. In 1996, he received his Ph.D. at Waseda University's institute for material science before joining Roland Berger as a Consultant in the same year.

Stéphane Potier (41) works at the Paris office where he focuses on consulting for international companies in the finance and distribution industry. He graduated with an engineering degree from Ecole Polytechnique in Paris. After working as a Marketing Director for companies in the consumer goods and high-tech industries, he joined Boston Consulting Group as a Manager in 1998. He has been a Principal at Roland Berger since 2006 and specializes in strategy, transformation and profit improvement.

Olaf Toepfer (37) has been working for the Roland Berger Zurich office since 2004 and advises financial service providers in Switzerland. After studying economics at the University of Fribourg/Switzerland, he worked at various consultancies, which included Senior Manager positions at Andersen Business Consulting and BearingPoint.

Codrut Pascu (32) has been in charge of the Roland Berger Bucharest office since 2005 where he focuses on energy, financial services and telecommunications. He studied economics and received an MBA from INSEAD. From 1997 to 1998, he worked at Active International, a leading Romanian brokerage firm, before joining Roland Berger. His focus is on strategy and reorganization.

External experts now Partners:
Jorge Alcobia (40), a financial expert, is joining our Lisbon office as a Partner. After studying economics and receiving an MBA, he started working for Accenture as a consultant, where he was elected Partner in 2000. His specialties include strategy, process optimization and M&A.

Eric Baart (41) is now a Partner at Roland Berger's Brussels office and advises the Belgium industrial sector. After studying economics, he worked first for the international marketer of agricultural products Cargill. Then he moved on to PriceWaterhouseCoopers and later IBM Business Consulting Services, where he was elected Partner in 2005. His specialties include post-merger integration and change management processes. His industry focus is on raw materials, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and life science.

Johannes Boerner (37) works at the Moscow office and provides financial service advice in Russia and the CIS. Boerner has an MBA from INSEAD and received a master's degree in Eastern European studies from the University of Bradford. Between 1999 and 2006, he worked as a Manager at Boston Consulting Group in Moscow and Munich. Subsequently, he worked as General Director for a major retail bank in Kazakhstan before joining Roland Berger as a Partner in 2007. His specialties include strategy development, business setup, M&A, turnaround management and restructuring.

Hideyuki Hashimoto (45) was elected Partner and will be working at Roland Berger's Tokyo office. He started his career at Japan Management Systems and the Industrial Bank of Japan. He subsequently switched to Gemini Consulting and Booz Allen Hamilton, where he was elected Principal in 2005. His specialties include strategy and process transformation.

Jeff Lin (43) was elected Partner and will be working at Roland Berger's office in Shanghai. He studied politics at National Taiwan University and has an MBA from the University of Chicago. Lin started his career in 1993 at Boston Consulting Group. In 2000, he became CEO of Neosonica Technologies. In 2004, he joined Booz Allen Hamilton as a Principal. His specialties include strategy, organization and M&A.

Maurizio Panetti (48) was elected Partner and will be working at Roland Berger's Milan office, responsible for financial topics. Panetti has major consulting experience as Vice President and Partner at A.T. Kearney, where he advised European financial service providers. His specialties include strategy development, restructuring and channel management.

Partner promoted to the next Partner level:
Max Blanchet (39, Paris), Benno van Dongen (42, Amsterdam) and Arnoud van der Slot (39, Amsterdam) were promoted to the next Partner level.