Private equity funds managed by Blackstone (Blackstone) have completed the previously announced acquisition of Schenck Process (Schenck), a specialist in measuring and process technology equipment.
Blackstone and Schenck have also announced the appointment of Keith Cochrane as Chairman and Harry Kenyon-Slaney as Member of the Advisory Board of Schenck.
Cochrane brings extensive senior and board-level experience to the role. He is currently Interim Chief Executive of Carillion plc, prior to which he served as long-standing CEO of The Weir Group plc, a leading manufacturer of highly-engineered products and services for the minerals, oil and gas and power industries. He joined Weir as Finance Director in July 2006 and was appointed CEO in November 2009. In 2015, Cochrane was appointed as the UK Government’s Lead Non-Executive Director for the Scotland Office and Office of the Advocate General. He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Cochrane was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and appointed CBE in 2016.
Harry Kenyon-Slaney is currently Non-Executive Chairman at Gem Diamonds having been appointed in June 2017. Kenyon-Slaney has over 33 years of experience in the mining industry, principally with Rio Tinto. Until 2015, Harry was a member of the Group Executive committee of Rio Tinto where he held the roles of CEO of Energy, and before that CEO of Diamonds and Minerals. Kenyon-Slaney also serves as a senior advisor to McKinsey & Co.
In addition, Lionel Assant, Juergen Pinker and Saleh Panahi, all of Blackstone, have been appointed to the Advisory Board.
Cochrane says: “Schenck is a great company, and I am delighted to be taking on this role. I look forward to being closely involved in the next stage of the company’s development, working alongside the executive team and continuing its growth strategy to deliver significant value.”
Andreas Evertz, CEO of Schenck, says: “On behalf of the Board, I am very pleased to welcome Keith as our new Chairman, marking another important step in the evolution of the company. Keith is an experienced leader with a proven record, and we will greatly benefit from his vision and deep understanding.”
Lionel Assant, Head of European Private Equity at Blackstone, says: “Keith’s intellect, operational expertise and relevant sector experience will be invaluable as we build on the growth already achieved and the on-going transformation of the business.”
