Mondo Minerals

Mondo Minerals is a world-leading talc-mining business that provides core products for the manufacture of paper, plastics and paints. Headquartered in Amsterdam, it has a strong international presence with a focus on Northern Europe and generates revenues of approximately €130 million. The company was created in 1998, and was until the sale to HgCapital part of Omya.

In 2007, Hg Capital acquired Mondo Minerals for an undisclosed sum. Its strategy for the business was to increase organic growth by further developing the business in Europe and Asia and making better use of its resources in Finland. Before the acquisition was completed, HgCapital asked Skillcapital to identify a buy-in CFO and Chairman. We recruited Mike Dearden as Chairman. He had previously enjoyed a successful executive career with Burmah Castrol and had also been Chairman of Minova, a provider of products and services to the mining sector that was backed by Close Brothers Private Equity.

Our CFO search focused on candidates with experience of industrial manufacturing or processes, international operations and change management. The candidate also had to be willing to be based in Amsterdam or Helsinki. We comprehensively mapped CFOs from industrial manufacturing businesses based in the Benelux and the Nordic region, with a particular focus on those with experience of mining or involvement in a private equity-backed company. The successful candidate was Akin Kavur, the former CFO of Carmeuse, the Belgian-headquartered global leader in the manufacture of lime, who had had financial responsibility for €900m of revenues and 80 plants.

List of all case studies