Chief Executive, German Digital Market Place

Client Profile

Following the acquisition of a German digital marketplace, a PE-backed technology services group in the travel sector needed to appoint a CEO to lead the business through its next phase. The investment thesis required accelerated growth and cultural transformation without compromising EBITDA discipline, making the leadership appointment central to both value creation and successful execution.

Client Requirement

The mandate called for a fluent German-speaking CEO with deep experience in marketplace and classified-platform businesses. Alongside strong commercial credentials, the individual needed the emotional intelligence to lead cultural change, the judgement to balance growth with profitability, and prior experience of operating successfully and at pace in a PE-backed environment.

Our Approach & Strategy

We conducted a Europe-wide search across marketplace, classifieds and adjacent digital-platform businesses. Our work focused on identifying leaders who could build confidence with investors and employees while translating the growth agenda into a practical operating plan.

Outcome

We delivered a shortlist of four CEOs who combined relevant digital-marketplace experience with the leadership capability required for the transformation. The process resulted in the successful appointment of a leader who met the agreed commercial, cultural and language requirements.