A confidential CFO appointment
A private equity backed manufacturer
Replacing a sitting finance director without the market — or the incumbent — knowing, ahead of a planned exit.
- from brief to signed offer
- 11 weeks
- from brief to signed offer
- leaders mapped across the market
- 42
- leaders mapped across the market
- leaks during the process
- 0
- leaks during the process
- Chief Financial Officer
The Challenge
The board needed a CFO with exit experience ahead of a planned sale, while the incumbent finance director remained in post and unaware. Any visible search risked unsettling the wider finance team and complicating the transaction, so the appointment had to be made without a public advert or a named client.
Our Solution
We ran a fully anonymous retained search, mapping forty-two finance leaders with relevant transaction experience before approaching anyone. Candidates were told the sector and the shape of the opportunity but not the company until they had signed a non-disclosure agreement and reached final stage. Interviews were held off-site.
The Results
An offer was signed eleven weeks from briefing, with no disclosure at any point in the process. The incoming CFO led the business through the transaction the following year, and the board has since used the same map for two further appointments.