INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE FINANCE 50 LEADERS
Has held his current post since September 2001
Is leading the biggest spin-off in GE history to
refocus on industrial infrastructureA Dartmouth College and Harvard
graduate, Immelt managed to pro-
tect the company from the Enron
crisis and helped it weather the 2008
financial crisis. The son of a GE ma-
nager, Immelt is now at a crucial
juncture. In 2014, he announced a
deconglomeration plan including
the sale of GE’s banking, healthcare
and appliance businesses which once
accounted for half of the profits of
the company. Aiming to refocus on
GE’s original competitive advantage,
Immelt plans to remold GE into an
industrial giant with strong adapta-
bility to today’s fast-paced environ-
ment. The spin-off has proven to be a
success, as evidenced by the 11% rise
in the company’s share price a day
after the announcement, increasing
GE’s market value by $35 billion.Jeff Immelt
Chairman and CEO,
GENERAL ELECTRICGraduated in Agricultural Engineering at
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
VP of Infrastructure and Strategy at GPASince assuming Via Varejo’s presi-
dency in October 2015, Estermann
has already engaged the company
in a deal that eyes new e-commerce
opportunities to counter last year’s
weaker sales. On May 20th 2016,
Via Varejo announced plans to in-
corporate Cnova’s e-commerce ope-
rations into a new, more complete
organization. Cnova, operator of
some of Via Varejo’s websites, is
owned by French company Casi-
no, which also controls GPA. Before
joining GPA and VV, Mr. Estermann
worked in many market sectors in-
cluding agriculture, heavy industry,
telecommunications and health in-
surance. In 2014 he volunteered in
the orientation of young entrepre-
neurs taking part in the Oi Futuro
project.Peter Paul Estermann
CEO,
VIA VAREJOAppointed President in 2000 and CEO in 2012
Launched “Project Literacy” in 2014, a five-year
campaign to combat illiteracy worldwideJohn Fallon is the agent of change
at the world’s largest book publisher
and education company. Upon offi-
cially taking up the position in 2013,
he announced Pearson’s new restruc-
turing plan to invest in digital lear-
ning and emerging markets. 2015
was a very active year: Fallon led the
resale of The FT Group (including
The Financial Times) and The Eco-
nomist (in which Pearson held a 50%
stake) respectively to Nikkei (£844
million, or €1.32 billion) and the
Agnelli family (£469 million, or €663
million). The shift in strategy became
clear in November 2015, when Pear-
son turned away from publishing,
whose business model is threatened
by digitalization, to put a “100% fo-
cus” on education, a sector where the
group is also a market leader.John Fallon
CEO,
PEARSONLeaders League. What are the key factors of
success for post-merger integration (PMI)?
Gaurav Malik. PMI requires careful plan-
ning, people management and flexibility.
A comprehensive integration plan along
with strict project management is essential
to the success of the integration.
People management is also a key factor.
The acquired team must be treated with
respect and handled carefully as they sett-
le into the new environment.
The third factor is flexibility, which may
seem to contradict the first. Initial integra-
tion plans are invariably based on limited
understanding. Quite often integration
runs over 18-36 months and the external
environment can change. The PMI process
must have flexibility to change plans if re-
quired by evolving understanding as well
as to react quickly to external factors.Leaders League. What are the main
challenges for companies in Asia?G. M. I feel the biggest challenge is recogni-
zing and managing cultural differences. As an
example, a flat hierarchy is a given in the West
but Asian companies are very often highly
hierarchical, which requires tactful handling.
In addition, in Asia, regulations and stan-
dards are not always as evolved as in Europe
and North America, and are even absent so-
metimes, and many local companies are not
always compliant, which is a challenge in
M&A as well.Leaders League. Meg Whitman once said:
“If you try to hive a division off, it’s really
hard because you almost have to recreate
the whole thing.” What do you think?
G. M. I agree. A hive-off or split situation is
like creating a new company and gives you
the chance to create a new structure from the
ground up in the way you want, but unlike a
startup you have to cater to the expectations
of stake holders like customers, employees
and shareholders, which makes it complex. I
think the way to succeed is to always keep the
rationale for the spin-off central to the
thinking and to create a structure around it.
Read the complete interview on
http://www.leadersleague.comPOST-MERGER
INTEGRATION REQUIRES
CAREFUL PLANNING,
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
AND FLEXIBILITY IN THE
PROCESS“The way to success is to always
keep the rationale for a spin off
central to its design”
Gaurav Malik
Director – Mergers,
Acquisitions and Divestments,
PHILIPS LIGHTING© Pearson© Grupo Pao de Acucar