 |
A graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Gestion business school and holder of a degree in Economic Sciences from the Université Paris X, Olivier Breittmayer began his business career in 1987 at Quaternaire Informatique, an importer of connectivity solutions for corporate clients. He advanced within the company from sales to marketing manager, sales director and managing director. In 1997, he got together with Philippe Dambrine to buy the company and one of its subsidiaries in Bordeaux (Cirel Système, which manufactures multi-protocol routers). Read more…
He then became chairman of both companies and presided over their parallel growth:
- Beset by difficulties at the point of its acquisition, Cirel Système was restructured and returned to growth and profitability in 1998. In 1999, by which time it was generating annual revenue of 35 million francs, Cirel was sold to Bintec, the listed German router manufacturer.
- In 1997, Quaternaire Informatique was still operating as a communication solutions distributor, had begun to decline and was suffering from significantly lower margins as a result of the widespread availability of the products it was distributing. A new strategy succeeded in transforming the company into a distributor of security solutions. The company changed its name to Newlink, and signed distribution contracts with startups that were soon to become leaders in this market.
Newlink quickly established subsidiaries in Spain and Italy, and revenue grew from 35 million francs in 1998 to 220 million francs in 2000, when the company was sold to the market leader Allasso, a subsidiary of the Articon Integralis Group (listed on Germany’s New Market).
On completion of the sale, Olivier Breittmayer remained with the Group for two years as Head of Southern Europe and Product Strategy.
At the start of 2003, Olivier Breittmayer and Philippe Dambrine formed the IT Global Services (ITGS) Group, which supplies hi-tech solutions manufacturers with services designed to help accelerate their growth, including telephone marketing, recruitment and press relations.
Olivier Breittmayer joined the Exclusive Networks Group as Chairman in September 2005. He has redefined the strategy of the Group and restructured it. Revenue has grown from €6 million in 2005 – the year in which he joined – to a forecast €80 million plus in 2009.
Sylvain Charignon, Associate Director at Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners
Sylvain Chavignon is a graduate of HEC, and began his career at Elf Trading SA in Geneva as a petroleum products trader. In 1994, he joined the strategy consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton, where he worked on behalf of energy industry clients. In 1997, he joined the IDI Group as an Expansion Capital project manager.
After two years at venture capitalists Republic Alley working with promising young IT companies, he joined Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners in 2002 as an Associate Director working in the Expansion Capital Group.
Philippe Zurawski, Investments Director, LBO & Expansion, Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Philippe Zurawski joined Crédit Lyonnais Private Equity (now Crédit Agricole Private Equity) in April 2002.
He holds an MSG (Masters in Management) and a DESS (specialized post-graduate diploma) in Tax and Financial Management from the University of Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne and began his career in 1995 with Arthur Andersen as an auditor before moving to Corporate Restructuring Services (acquisitions, disposals and restructuring) as a senior consultant.
In 2000 he joined 3i Group (a British investment fund) to work on majority LBOs.
|
 |
|
