Speaker Bios:  (back to Event Summary)

Bjoern Leschny is the Global Head for Mergers and Acquisitions Integration at Novo Nordisk. In this role, he plays a pivotal part in supporting the company’s ambitious expansion journey, driven by strategic external acquisitions and comprehensive internal scaling efforts that require seamless global integration. Novo Nordisk has emerged as a rising star among Europe’s leading corporations and became in 2023 the most valuable company in Europe, rapidly advancing along one of the most remarkable growth trajectories in the pharmaceutical industry.  

Prior to this, Bjoern served as Deputy Head of Region APAC and LATAM and Lead for Post Merger Integration activities at Bayer AG Headquarters, drawing from 23 years of practical and academic experience across business, IT, audit, risk-management, and organizational psychology. Bjoern played a pivotal role in the post-merger integration of Monsanto into Bayer, a process he led over five years, reflecting his expertise in M&A Integrations and Transformations on a global scale.  With professional engagements in over 60 countries and extended assignments in the US, China, and Spain, Bjoern's career highlights include high-profile transformation projects, as well as integrations and divestments such as Aventis Crop Science, Schering Pharma, Merck, Covestro, and Lanxess.. 

Jana leads WTW’s HR M&A Consulting Practice across Europe, bringing over two decades of experience helping organisations navigate the people complexities of cross-border transactions. As a senior leader in WTW’s Health, Wealth & Career business, she partners with clients throughout every stage of the deal lifecycle including HR readiness, Due Diligence and Integration to ensure that the HR strategy is aligned with deal objectives.

Kristen manages the global post-merger integration program (IMO) for Shell mergers and acquisitions. She has experience working across several unique businesses inside front-line M&A, Finance and Procurement roles. She’s spent time in Petro-Chemicals, Aviation, Trading, Pipeline, and Lubricants industries. In these groups, she has been able to negotiate deals and manage counterparty contracts ranging from highly strategy billion-dollar acquisitions through global sales and divestments.

Staci has been in M&A and Post-Merger Integration and Disentanglement for over 15-years, currently Staci is establishing a global PMI framework and team at ZEISS AG. Previously she established a PMI framework at NOVOMATIC AG and was Global Head of M&A Integration & Disentanglement at Philips, executing on multiple deals and business transformation activities. In addition, Staci is a seasoned IT executive holding senior roles including Chief Information Officer, Business Transformation and Product Development in the publishing industry at Elsevier and WPG. Her multi-industry experience has given Staci a broad and unique view of PMI, its application and ensuring a clear focus on value creation and execution excellence.

Emma Barton is a business development professional with over 15 years of industry experience and a track record of successful transactions and post deal management. She has broad business development experience spanning search and evaluation, transactions and strategic alliance management.

Louis Pachebat serves on Sanofi's M&A team, bringing extensive pharmaceutical industry experience across Finance, Internal Audit, and Legal functions at country, regional, and corporate levels. As M&A is central to Sanofi's Pay To Win strategy—transforming the company into an Immunology leader through divesting mature assets and acquiring innovative companies—Louis has developed expertise in integrating bolt-on acquisitions.

Stephen leads the M&A/Divestiture and ITO practice, which focuses on accelerating client success through inorganic transactions, emphasizing alignment across technology, risk, and operations. He has more than 25 years of industry experience spanning management consulting, professional services, enterprise IT, and hi-tech go-to-market responsibilities.

Prior to Zscaler, Stephen served as the VP/CTO for DXC Technology, where he focused on client digital transformation leveraging emerging technologies and industry-leading methodologies. Prior, he established Fidelity Investments’ Enterprise Technology Consulting practice, which addressed some of the firm's most complex business challenges. In addition, he has extensive experience leading enterprise IT organizations.

Paul is an accomplished M&A Executive with a proven track record in establishing and managing strategic IT and business programs across various sectors. He possesses extensive experience in leading transformation initiatives that prepare organizations for IT readiness during and after mergers, acquisitions, and divestments. Paul has successfully directed teams to deliver complex, business-critical transformation programs in global environments. His focus is on understanding the unique challenges of each organization and driving effective solutions to enhance operational efficiency and strategic alignment.

Paul is dedicated to aligning IT strategies with overall business objectives, ensuring the achievement of organizational goals within budgetary constraints. Currently, Paul leverages his expertise by mentoring MBA students at Warwick Business School, his alma mater.

Sylvie is an experienced former Management Consultant who spent 23 years at Accenture, one of the world’s most acquisitive organisations. As European Lead for M&A People Integration, she managed a portfolio of 30–35 acquisitions per year, integrating over 10,000 employees annually and supporting $3B in yearly investment. Today, she leads the Global People M&A Centre of Excellence at Azets, a Top 10 European accountancy firm, where she has built a scalable, people-first integration model to support rapid, PE-backed growth.

Stephan and his team provides compliance support for new business areas and all non-controlled affiliated companies of the Group.

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