Dean Hawkins
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd
Dean Hawkins has been leading international businesses at the forefront of the sport, entertainment and digital media industries for the past 12 years. He has held positions in Australia, the UK, Germany and Switzerland and his responsibilities have ranged from CFO of a DAX30 company with a global business spread across 100 countries, to positions as President and COO of rapidly growing private companies.
Dean has also restructured, re-built and sold companies, dealt with Government and regulatory bodies at senior levels, and closed large transactions as a vendor, supplier, acquirer and banker, including IPOs, secondary equity offerings, an intra-group merger and a €1.5 billion acquisition.
Since returning to Australia in late 2007, Dean has taken up Board positions in 2 companies. As well as being Chairman of Skins, he is a Director of EcoCover International, an environmental company with its roots in New Zealand which has recently secured contracts in Australia, USA and the Czech Republic.
From 2000 to 2006, Dean was President and COO, and a member of the Board, of 2 rapidly growing companies in the television and digital media industries in the UK – Video Networks and Chello Media. Video Networks was the UK’s first IPTV platform, delivering broadcast and on-demand TV, broadband and phone services. The Chello business included broadcast TV channels, video-on-demand operations, digital TV services and was, for a period, Europe’s largest broadband ISP. It is now part of Liberty Global.
Dean also spent 6 months as a consultant to one of the founders of Microsoft, restructuring his investment in Video Networks, including re-negotiating major contracts with Hollywood studios and BT. He has continued in the role of Board Member of the Bermudan company which holds the investment.
From 1996 to 2000 Dean was CFO of one of Germany’s largest companies, adidas AG, during which time the company’s market capitalisation grew from €1.5bn to €8bn. As well as running the Finance team, Dean had responsibility for the brand management and product sourcing subsidiaries (located in Amsterdam and Hong Kong), and was responsible for internet strategy, managing shareholder & analyst relationships and M&A.
Prior to joining adidas he was an investment banker at UBS in Zurich where he was a founding member of the equity corporate finance team, executing the first IPO led by UBS, and ultimately leading the IPO of adidas.
Dean was chosen as one of the “Global Corporate Finance Superstars of 1998” by Global Finance magazine, and was a member of the European Union’s Business Panel on Cross Border Investment and a member of Ofcom’s LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) Executive in the UK.
Dean is a member of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), having picked up BAFTA and Emmy awards during his period of leadership at Video Networks.
Jaimie Fuller
Chief Executive Officer, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd
Jaimie Fuller’s business career has focused on printing, property and retail product development. He has been responsible for sales, marketing and production at several large companies. Jaimie purchased Skins™ in 2003 and has since grown the business to 50 times what it did then and increasing. His expertise in cost management and strategic associations has helped grow the brand to one of the most recognisable in Australia. He is also an advisor to other private companies.
Ajmal Rahman
Director, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd
Ajmal Rahman, 44, is an independent strategic advisor and private investor based in London. Since May 2007, Ajmal has been serving as the Chairman of Rainbow Rewards Holding. Rainbow Rewards is a merchant funded paperless automated loyalty program that has the potential to become the market leader in its sector .
Ajmal is serving as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Artificial Life, Inc. (OTCBB: ALIF) , a leading global provider of award winning mobile technology, content, games and applications. He is currently involved in 10 different private equity companies and acting as an advisor to the board in five of them.
Prior to his current role, he worked for Merrill Lynch in several senior positions for over 17 years from 1986 until 2003. From 2001 to 2003, he was co-head of the Asia Investment Banking Group of Merrill Lynch based in Hong Kong . Between 1996 and 2001, he was managing director and regional head of Merrill Lynch's Asian Equity Capital Markets group. Prior to this appointment, he worked in Equity Capital Markets for Merrill Lynch in London and New York . He has led many significant initial public offerings, secondary equity offerings and convertible bonds both from the corporate sector and from the public sector. He has gained extensive listing experience in New York , London and Hong Kong .
A highlight of the landmark transactions he has managed include from the telecommunications sector a $6.8 billion Offering for China Mobile Hong Kong and over $5 billion in two exchangeable convertible bonds for Hutchinson Whampoa into Vodafone In the oil and gas sector he has managed the $1.4 billion initial public offering for China National Offshore Oil Corp and coordinated the international portion of the $3 billion initial public offering of Argentina's YPF SA. In the technology arena, he has managed multiple equity offerings for Korea 's Samsung Electronics, a secondary equity offering from Singapore 's Chartered Semiconductor and the initial public offering and subsequent secondary equity offering from India 's Satyam Infoways. Under his leadership, Merrill Lynch was awarded both the Asian Equity and Equity Linked House of the Year in 2000.
Ajmal is a graduate of Law from Pembroke College at Cambridge University
Eddy Solbrandt
Director, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd
Eddy Solbrandt is the CEO and founder of GPR Dehler Pty Ltd. He has been a management consultant since 1983, when he started his career in Germany working for a international management consultancy specialising in productivity improvements.
He has an international background and global orientation. His professional history represents over 24 years of developing and implementing comprehensive management strategies and business improvement initiatives and is adept at providing swift assessment, analysis and development of solutions and strategies for achieving operational and financial objectives.
GPR Dehler is a management consultancy that specialises in the design, development and implementation of change strategies for major corporations worldwide, especially in the areas of performance improvement and human resources development.
Assignments have typically yielded substantial returns to clients in performance, quality and profitability. Notable clients include BASF, Tulip, Commonwealth Bank, BHP Billiton, Qantas, AMP, Freeport McMoran, James Hardie, Boral, Rio Tinto, INCO, Microsoft, QAL, ARCO, Dorbyll Group, CSR, UBO, Westpac, EBRD, Anglogold Ashanti.
Eddy has managed consulting assignments extensively overseas in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe, South East Asia and South Africa.
Eddy is Vice Chairman of Rainbow Rewards Holdings. Rainbow Rewards is a merchant funded paperless automated loyalty program that has the potential to become the market leader in its sector. He is married with two children and lives at Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.
Rajeev Dhawan
Director, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd
Rajeev has 13 years’ venture capital and private equity experience. Prior to joining Equity Partners in 2005, he worked at HGM/CFSPE from 1993, where he focused on mid size expansion capital and buyouts. He was a Director from 1998 and led the majority of CFSPE’s investments from then, investing over $70 million in 7 opportunities, all of which have been exited.
After his departure from CFSPE he was invited to join the board and advise the shareholders of Flexirent, a former CFSPE investment which he had led, on strategic and exit planning.
Prior to the private equity industry, Rajeev was a Manager in the Financial Consulting Practice of Arthur Anderson.
Rajeev served on AVCAL’s Board from 2003 until 2004.
Quentin Jones
Director, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd
Quentin has 12 years’ venture capital and private equity experience. Prior to joining Equity Partners in 2000, he was an Associate Director in a media and communications fund managed by Gresham CEA and before that he was an Associate Director in the private equity investment division of AIDC Ltd, one of Australia’s largest development capital investors until it was sold by the Federal Government in 1997.
Before joining AIDC, Quentin worked as a lawyer in the insolvency and corporate divisions of Sly & Weigall, now known as Deacons.
Quentin is currently the Chairman of the AVCAL and has served on its board since 2002.
Adam Shepard
Secretary to the Board of Directors, Skins™ Consolidated Pty Ltd