Engagement
Phipps Cameron first engaged with DS Smith in the first part of 2017, subsequently placing their full M&A team over the following two years. This included hiring Director, Senior Manager and Analyst positions, followed by two further roles within the team.
The Company
DS Smith is a leading British-based international packaging business. It was founded in 1940, and first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1986. In December 2017, the company moved into the FTSE 100, and continues to be highly acquisitive. Their main focus is the EMEA region, whilst successfully entering the North American market in the last few years, continuing to increase their market share.
The Situation
The business had entered the FTSE 100, and wanted to continue to increase their M&A activity. Due to the number of deals and strength of the pipeline being created, matched with the number of potential untapped acquisition targets in the market, they were looking for a strong candidate to come in and help execute large deals, whilst gaining momentum to lead such deals and run SPA negotiations. The hire would stay within the M&A team for a few years, before entering the business within a core finance role, where they would lead a business unit or PNL going forwards.
The Solution
Due to the trajectory for this hire to move internally within the business, the candidate required an ACA and a strong baseline of broader financial knowledge. However, due to the size, volume and details of current M&A deals, the candidate needed considerable banking experience and a number of closed transactions on their deal sheet.
Therefore, we mapped the market for current M&A investment bankers who had started their career within audit at one of the Big 4, prior to moving into a corporate finance team. Following this, candidates should have moved to a strong investment bank, with high deal volume and a number of closed deals. The candidate should have been exposed to client meetings and managed a team of Associates and Analysts within the role, and had regular interaction with the senior MDs.
Once suitable candidate profiles were identified, all candidates were met, to assess their career plans and personality fit for the team at DS Smith, prior to submitting a shortlist of five strong individuals. In these meetings, their career plans were also addressed, to ensure full knowledge of the trajectory for this hire to move internally within 2-4 years.
Being aware of the salary remit for this hire, we managed all candidate expectations, with the final candidate accepting a salary decrease of £15,000 and a bonus in line with the hiring firms expectations.
