Program Board : Executive Club

Marcin Benbenek

Partner Royalton Partners

Mr. Benbenek joined Royalton Partners Limited in 2008. Prior to joining Royalton, he worked in several executive positions at mPunkt Polska, an RCI I portfolio company since 2002. He was one of the two key executives of the firm and served as a member of the Management Board and as Director of the Sales and Marketing Division.

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Between 1999 and 2002, Mr. Benbenek worked as member of Management Board at Małopolska Giełda Rolno-Towarowa, Rzeszów, a wholesale agricultural products trading company, where he served as sales and marketing director.

From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Benbenek worked for KLM Cargo in Chicago and Warsaw as sales director. Between 1999 and 2012, he served as a member and/or deputy chairman of the supervisory boards of six Polish industrial companies. (JPRD-M Jarosław, S.A. Mera-Pnefal S.A., Fabryka Wagonów Gniewczyna S.A., Port Lotniczy Jasionka S.A., PKO BP Inwestycje Sp z o.o., KZŁ Bydgoszcz Sp z o.o. In 2010, Mr. Benbenek was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board member of EuroLOT S.A.

Mr. Benbenek serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board member of City Parking Group S.A, Kom –Eko S.A, Central Eurpopean Airport Services in Lithuania and Poland.

Mr. Benbenek holds a Master of Law degree from Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin and an M.B.A. from the University of Central Lancashire, Preston. He also studied business administration at National-Louis University in Chicago.

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Michał Chałaczkiewicz

Director, Montagu Private Equity

Michał Chałaczkiewicz joined Montagu in 2008. Previously, he worked at Innova Capital in Warsaw focussing on Central European private equity deals. He has led Montagu transactions in the CEE region – Euromedic International, as well as the largest leveraged buyout in the history of the Polish market – Emitel. He graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics (with honours).

Tomasz Czechowicz

Managing Partner MCI Management SA

Founder and Managing Partner of MCI Group. After acquisition of funding throw IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2001 the value of MCI’s investment portfolio grew from USD 8M to more than USD 400M.
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MCI is one of the most dynamic private equity groups which implements early stage, growth stage and expansion/buy-out stage investments in Central Eastern Europe, as well as Germany and Austria (DACH), Turkey and the countries of the former Soviet Union (CIS).
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dr Beata Gessel-Kalinowska vel Kalisz

Founding and managing partner, attorney at GESSEL Attorneys at Law.

Expert practitioner in M&A, private equity, arbitration, and commercial law. President of the Lewiatan Court of Arbitration under the auspices of the Lewiatan Polish Confederation of Private Employers since 2011.

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In the years 2005-2011 Vice President of the Lewiatan Court of Arbitration and coordinator of program “Promotion of amicable methods of commercial dispute resolution” and “Competitiveness of Arbitration” co-financed by the European Social Fund.

Education

PhD in law, attorney at law. Graduated from Warsaw University’s Faculty of Law and Administration in 1989. Received her PhD from Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw in 2009; title: ‘Legal Character of Representations and Warranties in a Limited Liability Company Share Purchase Agreement (in Light of the Freedom of Contract Principle)’ [published by Wolters Kluwer in 2010].

M&A Experience

Over the years Beata Gessel has gained an extensive experience and became an expert with a highly impressive track record in M&A sector. Since the beginning of professional carrier (1989) she has advised in over 200 M&A transactions for financial investors (PE/ VC Funds) and strategic investors.

Recommended or named as a leader in domestic and international rankings of law firms, including those of: the Polish daily “Rzeczpospolita”, Practical Law Company, Chambers & Partners, and Legal 500 as regards PE/VC and Corporate/M&A. Since 2007 the ranking of law firms by “Rzeczpospolita” places Beata Gessel among leaders of its M&A/privatisation/restructuring list. Chambers & Partners names her as a leader in PE, pointing out that Beata Gessel is something of a private equity celebrity in Polish legal circles, with a highly impressive track record in the sector (Chambers Europe. Europe’s Leading Lawyers for Business” 2008). Beata Gessel is a laureate of the Forbes Professionals 2012 in the Attorney at Law category.

Arbitration Experience

Since 1995 arbitration has become one of the core areas of Beata Gessel’s professional career. To this date Beata Gessel has participated in over 70, both domestic and international, arbitration cases (including ICC, UNCITRAL and other ad hoc, Lewiatan, KIG,) dealing with issues concerning M&A transactions, other commercial contracts, construction law (including FIDIC regulations). Her arbitration experience and achievements have been recognised by the prestigious Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London and she has been granted a status of Fellow of the CIArb (FCIArb).

Academic Experience

Beata Gessel is a visiting academic lecturer in M&A transactions, as well as International commercial arbitration at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University’s Law Department.

Listed as an arbitrator
• Lewiatan Court of Arbitration, Warsaw, Poland
• Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Singapore
• Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC), Vienna, Austria
• Court of International Commercial Arbitration by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bucharest, Romania
• Court of Arbitration by the Chamber of Industrial Energetics and Energy Receivers (IEPiOE), Warsaw, Poland
• Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA)

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Dariusz Greszta

Partner, Head of Corporate / M&A Department

Dariusz Greszta, a Polish-qualified legal advisor, is a Partner and head of the Corporate / M&A Department at CMS.

He specialises in securities law, mergers and acquisitions and in companies law. He advises Polish and international venture capital and private equity funds, investment banks, investors and sellers, on merger and acquisition transactions.

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He also represents his clients in corporate restructurings, divestures, group reorganisations and recapitalisations of existing investments.

He has represented a number of investment banks, Polish private and public issuers, and the government of Poland in various financial transactions with particular emphasis on their activities on international capital markets. Dariusz also advises clients on public takeovers, delistings and other matters related to securities law.

His recent experience includes advising Mid Europa Partners on a PLN 215 mln privatisation of Polskie Koleje Linowe (Polish Cable Railways). The transaction was recognised by the Polish daily “Rzeczpospolita” as one of the most important transactions on the private equity market in Poland in 2013.

Dariusz Greszta has been awarded for his work in the Corporate / M&A sector several times in the leading international guides to the legal profession, “Chambers&Partners” and Legal 500.
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Dieter Lobnig

Managing Director Head of Structured Finance and Commercial Real Estate Department, Poland UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking Bank Pekao

Dieter is currently heading the Structured Finance and Commercial Real Estate Department, which consolidates units covering inter alia Leveraged Finance, Project Finance and real estate financing in Bank Pekao.

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He represents almost 20 years of experience in working on Structured Finance Projects in CEE. Before joining Bank BPH as Director of Structured Finance in Warsaw in 2005 he worked in Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi both in Vienna and London, as well as in Corporate Syndications for Bank Austria Creditanstalt in Vienna.

He was recently involved and responsible for financing of most flagship Polish transactions, including buy outs, real estate projects as well as financing and advisory on major Project Finance deals, like Wirtualna Polska, Żabka, Effective Refining project for Grupa Lotos, Sita/ Marguerite City of Poznan waste – to – energy project, Blackstone real estate investments to name a few.

Dieter is a graduate of the University of Business Administration and Economics in Vienna.
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Monika Morali – Efinowicz

Managing Director, Advent International

Monika Morali-Efinowicz is a Managing Director at Advent International, heading Advent’s activities in Poland. Responsible for a number of Advent’s investments in the CEE region, she is also a member of Advent’s ACEE Investment Advisory Committee and holds Supervisory Board seats at a number of Advent’s investments.
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She has over 17 years of Private Equity and corporate finance experience both in Western and Central Europe and is a Board Member of the Polish Private Equity Association.

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Michał Popiołek

Head of Structured and Mezzanine Finance at mBank

Michał has been working in the investment banking sector for last 18 years, whereas last 15 years at mBank. He was responsible for private equity investments of mBank and sale of portfolio investment. Since 2006 he has been responsible for launching mezzanine activity of mBank.
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Since 2008 he has held the current position. Prior to joining mBank, Michał worked in consulting companies (corporate finance, controlling systems) and other banks (e.g. Citibank). He was involved in several M&A transactions.
Michał has been Supervisory Board member of many companies. He holds a Master Degree in finance and banking from Warsaw School of Economics. He completed Advanced Management Program IESE Business School in Barcelona
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Jacek Pogonowski

Partner Value4Capital

Prior to creation of Value4Capital, a private equity fund management company, Jacek Pogonowski was a partner in Amundi Private Equity Funds, leading its Warsaw office. Before Amundi Jacek was with Baring Corilius Private Equity (formerly Baring Private Equity Partners), responsible for the largest country portfolio in the BCEF fund,[toggle title=”Read More” on=”0″] where he has taken an active role in investee companies including a publicly listed Polish company.

Jacek joined Baring in 1998 from Erste Investments, Warsaw, where he was a Member of the Board and led its mergers and acquisitions advisory business. His team focused on transactions for mid-market companies, specialising in pre-IPO finance. His original training prior to Erste was at Arthur Andersen in Warsaw where he worked both as auditor and corporate finance specialist between 1991 and 1995. Jacek holds a Bachelor of Finance from St. Johns University in New York. In addition to activities in Value4Capital Jacek is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Konsalnet Holding S.A.. In the past, Jacek Pogonowski was on the Board of Polish Private Equity Association and on the Supervisory Board of KFK (Krajowy Fundusz Kapitałowy). Jacek is a member of Polish Business Roundtable (Polska Rada Biznesu) and Business Centre Club.

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Dariusz Prończuk

Managing Partner Enterprise Investors and Board Member

Dariusz Prończuk is a Managing Partner of Enterprise Investors and Board member of several companies from the EI portfolio. Dariusz has over 26 years of private equity, corporate finance and industry experience in the CEE region.

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Since joining Enterprise Investors in 1993, he has made more than 20 investments in Poland and in all the major CEE countries, primarily in the financial services, IT, construction materials and FMCG sectors. Key among them have been investments in Lukas, Comp Rzeszów (now Asseco Poland), COMP, Magellan, Kruk, and AVG Technologies.

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Marcin Prusak

Deputy Managing Director, Corporate Banking, DNB Bank Polska S.A.

Deputy Managing Director, Corporate Banking area in DNB Bank Polska S.A. Has been in banking for 14 years, starting with Raiffeisen Bank Polska S.A. and joining DNB Group in 2006.

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Mainly responsible for structured and project finance area, since two years also heading large corporates area followed by supervision of respective sector teams within the bank, including TMT, Energy, Manufacturing, Retail&Services and Public Sector. Graduate of Warsaw School of Economics.

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Witold Radwański

Managing Partner Krokus Private Equity

Krokus PE has over the last 18 years managed four funds fund targeting expansion and buy-out investments in the Polish lower and mid-cap market. Prior to this experience, Witold Radwanski worked for the Polish Ministry of Finance, EBRD, Chase and Allied Irish Banks. Witold Radwanski has a Masters Degree from John Hopkins University.

Khai Tan

Partner, Bridgepoint Capital

Khai Tan joined Bridgepoint in 2007 as a Partner in the Warsaw office responsible for Bridgepoint investment activities in Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Bridgepoint, Khai was head of Advent International’s operations in Poland, having previously worked for the retail and wholesale distributor of consumer products, Eastbridge Group, in Central Europe where latterly he was CFO.

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He has also worked for ING Bank in Brazil, Poland and the Philippines from 1987 to 1998. Khai is a graduate of, and holds an MBA from, Nijenrode University in the Netherlands. He serves on the board of CTL Logistics, Dr Gerard and PIR S.A.

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