Name : Alec Maréchal
Date of birth : 17/04/1952
Nationality : Belgian
Marital status : Cohabitant
Summary
My professional career includes very diverse experiences: executive of multinational companies, managing director of large SMEs, interim manager, entrepreneur and consultant in strategy and management for more than 20 years.
These experiences have confronted me with very different managerial environments and sectors of activity and have led me to support more than 50 business leaders in their development.
In recent years, I have focused mainly on mandates as independent director and chairman of the board of directors as well as assignments related to corporate governance. After having worked a lot on the development of companies and the structuring of their management, I am now primarily interested in companies in difficulties to bring them my experience. And this both within and outside the judicial system. I am accredited mediator of common law in civil and commercial by the Belgian Federal Commission of Mediation, but also company mediator within the meaning of Book XX of the Code of Belgian Economic Law and referenced as such with the French speaking courts of the country. As such, I participated in the three types of judiciary reorganization (PRJ): amicable, collective and transfer under judicial authority. I was also appointed as a judicial administrator by the court of Nivelles to manage conflicts between shareholders.
My experience as an entrepreneur, consultant, board member and crisis manager as well as my expertise as an insolvency professional allow me to exercise, in full knowledge, diagnosis assignments and strategic analysis of company according to very diverse issues. In addition, about ten years ago, I co-founded the consulting firm “Just in Time Management”, which is now focused on supporting companies facing “New Market Realities”
Professional experience
Since 1976
- Executive in international groups: Dechy-Univas, Lintas, American Express
- Managing Director: Sacma (Papeteries de Belgique), Wilson Learning, Performers Promotion
- Business creation:
- Design Packing: distributor of luxury paper and plastic packaging bags
- Co-founder of the Performers, a group of 7 companies sold to the world’s number one advertising company WPP/Ogilvy & Mather
- Gateway to African Business: www.gateway-africa-business.com Due diligence, market research and feasibility studies facilitating the establishment of European companies in Africa
- Hermes International Negotiation Team: Consultancy company specialized in the accompaniment of institutions and corporations exposed to difficult negotiations and in which the anticipation of the expected behaviors of the negotiators of the opposing party is fundamental
Since 1994
- Independent consultant: more than 20 consultancy assignments in medium-sized companies
- Interim manager :
- Belgacom Directory Services: Member of the Management Committee in charge of strategy, marketing, and communication of Promedia’s competitor in telephone directories
- MasterCard Europe: implementation of a pilot service in the Baltic countries, Italy, and Germany
Since 2007
- Co-founder and managing partner of the consulting firm Just in Time Management Group (www.just-in-time-management.com) More than 30 assignments to support medium-sized business leaders with a view to strategic reflection, their development, the structuring of their management or the implementation of a new governance
- Interim management of general management: Cercle de Lorraine
- Merge & Acquisition: Bird & Goen, Artiplex, Ajimex
Since 2013:
Board member, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and governance advisor
- Vizzion Participation:
International real estate developer operating in 5 countries, including Turkey.
€600 million in capitalization
Independent Director: 2012-2015
Chairman of the Board of Directors: 2016-2017 - Ronveaux
Prestressed concrete and laying of electrical cables
Coaching the family shareholders to set up a board of directors with independent directors: 2013 - Lambda-Plus:
Data collection and data management of clinical trials for the pharmaceutical sector.
Independent Director: 2013-2014
Chairman of the Board of Directors: 2015-2021 - ACCI Europe asbl (African Center for Competitive Intelligence):
A non-profit company who has the mission of raising European companies’ awareness of the potential investment in Africa through economic intelligence tools.
Director: 2016-2018. - 123Automation:
Analysis and development of automated solutions for industry. Restructuring of the shareholding and coaching the founding shareholder: 2018-present - Enercoop:
Cooperative company with limited liability for the management of energy production projects from renewable sources: wind, hydro, biomass, solar. Judicial administrator in college with Me Nicholas Ouchinsky appointed by the court of Walloon Brabant: 2018-2019. Adjustment of the balance sheets, holding of general assemblies, interim management, search for a potential buyer, closing of the deal and support of the takeover. - Pain Quotidien Licensing: Following the judicial reorganization of the company, administrator to accompany its liquidation: 2020.
- Board Coaching To Excellence: The Belgian network of entrepreneurs and directors who share their experience to improve the effectiveness of SME boards of directors
Independent director: 2020-2021
Since 2020:
company mediator, support for companies in difficulties and sliding towards insolvency:
- Mediator of common law in civil and commercial in a file resulting from the permanence in mediation at the court of Brussels. Agreement between the parties in a half-day session.
- Company mediator appointed by the Liège Court, Namur division, in a collective PRJ. Obtaining 100% of the votes on the restructuration plan aiming to turn down 50% of non-institutional creditors, including two banks. 2020.
- At the request of the debtor, Company Mediator in an amicable PRJ with setting up a Pre-Pack for the transition to a transfer PRJ. Support of the buyer in the creation of a NewCo and its financing by a bank and the public fund Noshaq in Liège. 2019-2021
- In the context of the submission of conclusions at the Appeal Labour Court to defend a company attacked by the Closure Fund for non-compliance with the legal conditions related to a transfer PRJ, analysis and drafting of a detailed report to justify that the conditions related to the takeover of part of the staff have been met. 2020.
- Company mediator by appointment of the Brussels Court in two cases aimed at the restructuring of a portfolio of activities and the renegotiation of the debtor’s debt. 2021.
- Judicial Representative by appointment of the Brussels Court in the context of the new preparatory agreement procedure (prepack) before Judiciary Reorganization Procedure (PRJ).
Education & Trainings
- Master’s degree in applied economics from the Institute of Business Administration and Management of the University of Louvain, Louvain School of Management (1976)
- Training in civil and commercial mediation – PMR Brussels – (2018-2019)
Accreditation as a civil and commercial mediator by the Belgian Federal Mediation Commission - Third cycle Fucam/UCL: Judicial crisis representative (2019-2020)
- Mooc edX UCL: Psychology of Negotiation (2020)
- Manage conflicts through mediation. LinkedIn Learning 2020.
Languages
- French: mother tongue
- English: in-depth knowledge in spoken and written language thanks to:
- One-year stay in the United States (1975-1976)
- Professional practice with American companies: (American Express, Wilson Learning)
- Consulting in the USA: Florida Travel Passport: Support Belgian shareholders of a start-up selling loyalty cards and discount offers for attractions, hotels, restaurants and shops in Orlando, Florida.
- Dutch: usual practice where everyone uses its own language
Diverse
- Certified consultant of Chèques-Entreprises of the Walloon Region.
- Consultant for the Center of Companies in Difficulty of the Brussels Chamber of Commerce
- Co-founder and former director of the Association of Graduates of the Institute of Business Administration and Management of the University of Louvain
- Founder and former animator of the Club Apm (Association Progrès Management) Cercle de Wallonie