MEA Board appoints international M&A expert as Chairman

MEA Board appoints international M&A expert as Chairman

Emerging Hamilton-based product lab, MEA Global, is pleased to announce it has appointed Colin Groves, as Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Mr Groves works for Tetra Laval where he has worked for the past 22 years, mostly as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions, a role that takes him around the globe.

A former international rugby player, Mr Groves and his family emigrated to New Zealand from the UK five years ago.

The Sweden-based Tetra Laval Group is the world’s second largest family-owned company and the global leader in food processing and packaging equipment.

“There are many hundreds of companies in the Group which means there is a constant process of change through buying and selling businesses,” Mr Groves says.

His responsibilities include all aspects of acquiring and disposing of businesses around the world including evaluating potential targets and leading acquisition teams. The transactions range in value from NZ$10m to NZ$3Bn.

As a qualified accountant he regards himself as “an enthusiastic amateur” in the information technology field, although his business background has strong IT links.

In his early career he worked for the then emerging Silicon Valley IT company Informix Software in Europe. He says the company’s major competitors at the time were two other emerging companies that eventually became Microsoft and Oracle.

“Informix took a different route and became part of IBM when the tech giant purchased it for US$1 billion,” he says. “So that wasn’t a bad result either!”

But it was in his first job with British Rail where he originally developed his interest in computer technologies and their role in business.

“Personal computers were in their infancy in those days and I was interested in their future role in business management,” he says. “Later, when I worked at Johnson & Johnson, we were one of Informix Software’s first key accounts which is how I ended up joining this fledging company”

With Tetra Laval he has continued to be involved with a number of technology innovations in the Group.

“So it is with considerable enthusiasm that I have accepted this role with MEA Global as an emerging company that is poised to make its mark in the new era of mobile technology,” he says.

“I think I bring some relevant skills as well as my personal energy and drive and hopefully I’ll be able to contribute my share along with the other talented directors.

The Board is made up of the company’s three executive directors, Gabriel Engel, Rodney Macfarlane and Bruce Seymour, along with the other non-executive director, US-based James Hood, former CEO of the U.S. joint venture between Young & Rubicam Inc. and Dentsu, the world's largest advertising agency.

Mr Groves said he believes MEA Global is in a strong position to take advantage of the rapidly evolving digital environment.

ends

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