>> Former Dole Food Co. finance chief Kenneth J. Kay moving into new digs as CFO of CB Richard Ellis Inc….Kay replacesJim Leonetti, who is leaving world’s largest commercial real-estate services company to pursue other interests…
On June 27, Dole named Richard Dahl CFO, replacing Kay… Before Dole, Kay’s jobs included EVP and CFO at several product groups of Universal Studios… He was also SVP and CFO of Playmates Inc.…
>> Miller’s Crossing: Stuart Miller apparently passed filters at British separations-technology company Whatman Plc… Miller brought on as new finance director to implement restructuring effort… He was previously finance chief at U.K. food-equipment manufacturer Enodis… Before that, held posts as group finance director at Dexion group and finance director at International Packaging… Miller has been heavily involved in capital-raising, and brings M&A skills to his new role…
Centuries-old Whatman has been having difficulty restyling itself for modern times… In 18th century, company’s paper was prized by such artists as Thomas Gainsborough, Joseph William Turner, and William Blake… Today, Whatman seeking to attract customers with high-tech filters… Old paper-production machines can now make paper from glass fiber and cellulose as well as traditional wood pulp… But so far, attempts to adapt have yielded losses… Last year, company issued two profit warnings…
Miller is second manager hired to turn things around at Whatman—Tim Coombs came in as CEO last year… Miller replaces Harry Cooper, who steps down as group finance director, but will also work on restructuring…
>> Private-mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. said EVP and CFO John Lorenzen retiring on March 31, 2003… Lorenzen has served as PMI’s finance chief for 17 years… Joined company in 1985 as controller and was promoted to CFO later that year… During tenure as CFO, oversaw 1995 spin-off from Allstate Corp. and managed PMI’s 2001 issuance of $360 million in convertible debentures… Earlier, he managed PMI’s investment in wholly-owned subsidiary American Pioneer Title Insurance Co. and spearheaded PMI’s investment in Ram Reinsurance… Before joining PMI, he had stints as VP and controller at Visa International and VP of finance and administration at Castle & Cooke Inc….
>> Design-software maker Autodesk Inc. named Alfred Castino SVP and CFO… Castino replaces Steve Cakebread, who left to join San Francisco start-up…
Castino joins Autodesk from video-communication software provider Virage, where as CFO he led company’s initial public offering… His previous jobs include finance chief at PeopleSoft and controller at Chiron Corp.…
Quote of the Day
“We need to dare to question everything we do: whether it is needed, whether there is a better way of doing it, or whether someone else can do it better than us.”
—Philips CFO Jan Hommen, on taking shared-service centers to new levels of sophistication.
(For more on Hommen’s efforts, read “Philips Sees the Lite.”)