ESSEC appointments: Fooding, Henkel, KKR, Axa, Goldman Sachs…

General management positions, overseas, in major groups or for iconic brands...and a Knight of the French National Order of Merit! We take a look at some of the recent appointments in the ESSEC network.

Alexandre Coing (E14) has been appointed Managing Director of Fooding. He has spent his whole career with the prestigious gastronomy media outlet which also acts as an agency for content production, events organisation and consultancy. He began with the partnerships unit, prior to becoming Director of Operations and later Deputy Managing Director. 

Thibault Daniel (BBA 10) has been appointed Managing Director of Halloween Agency, an independent communications agency specialised in events, social media and brand content. He previously held positions at Orange, Pernod Ricard and Ideactif, with some of his key projects including the 150th anniversary of Jack Daniels, digital and event activation for Greenroom, the development of the Captain Morgan brand in the hospitality sector as of the brand’s launch in France, the ‘Une Nuit au Parc [Night in the Park]’ campaign for PSG x Nivea, social media strategy and brand content for Pelforth, the production of ‘La Mêlée’ for Nexem, or more recently the online & offline launch of ‘Rue des Bulles’ for Nicolas Feuillatte,

Cécile Leroi (E96) has been appointed General Manager of Consumer Brands at Henkel France, and has also joined the company’s executive board. She has spent her entire career with the Group, in particular as International Marketing Director (in Dusseldorf), Digital and Marketing Director for the Laundry & Homecare division, then Sales Director for the same branch. 

Edouard Lacoste (M00) has been appointed General Secretary of Teract, the company resulting from the merger between 2MX Organic, the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) set up by Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, and the distribution division of the agricultural cooperative InVivo, owner of Gamm Vert and Jardiland, with a €100-million package to develop the food brand Grand Marché – Frais d’ici. Edouard has held management positions for the last 15 years: further to heading the pan-European property investment fund, Ærium, he established Atland’s asset investment and management activity then took over the general management of the investment, funding and asset management units at Nouvelles Fonctions Urbaines (NFU). His next move was to co-found Habx, a proptech offering a design and customisation tool for property developers and their customers, before becoming Managing Director of Family Office Zouari. 

Mai-Lan de Marcilly (E09) has been appointed Managing Director, Head of Transactions France & Hotels, Real Estate Private Equity at KKR in London, where she has been working for several years. She held previous positions at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Morgan Stanley and LaSalle Investment Management, before her appointment to Associate Acquisitions – Opportunistic Fund at PGIM Real Estate. She also featured in the Choiseul 2022 City of Tomorrow ranking.

Cyril Giraud (E96) has been appointed Senior Vice President of Imerys, the world leader in the production and transformation of industrial minerals. He has spent the greater part of his career with the group, following his early days in venture capital. He held various positions in strategy and development, finance & audit, then project management, in numerous European and Asian markets. He then went on to become General Manager of the EMEA carbonates division and Vice President of Performance Minerals APAC.

Thierry Sancier (E93) has been appointed Co-Head of Investment Banking for France, Belgium and Luxembourg at Goldman Sachs. He began his career with Indosuez in South-East Asia before joining the M&A department of Goldman Sachs in London, where he dealt specifically with the media, banking and insurance sectors. He then returned to Paris to cover major accounts, in particular industrial clients, before rising successively to the ranks of Managing Director and Partner, then Head of EMEA Investment Banking Services. 

Sylvain Juillard (E14) has been appointed Head of Corporate Development and Corporate Governance with the French-German finance group ODDO-BHF, which generates €781 million in net banking revenues, €1.064 billion in equity and has 2,500 employees throughout the world. He began his career at BNP Paribas, then Société Générale, before joining UBS France, where he held various positions, in particular Chief of Staff to the chairman of the management board, Head of Strategy, Development & Organisation, and member of the Executive Board. 

Antoine Mesnage (E06) has been appointed Head of Australia Real Assets at AXA Investment Managers in Sydney. Ranked in the Choiseul 2022 City of Tomorrow, he has already managed more than €11 billion in transactions for the group in France, notably in the housing and forestry sectors. He previously worked for BNP Paribas and Icade, prior to taking up a European-level position at Generali Real Estate. He is also a member of the ESSEC Alumni Maison des ESSEC steering committee.

Thibaud Chalmin (E03) has been awarded a knighthood of the National Order of Merit for his 25 years of service to French defence and security in the operational reserve of the French National Police Force (Gendarmerie). He is also a headhunter for the recruitment agency Marignan Consulting.

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