2009-11-11 15:51:05 -
Pala Investments AG (“Pala”), a multi-strategy investment advisory company focused on the mining and natural resources sector, today announced that it has expanded its team by hiring three new professionals to complement its existing team of industry specialists.
Collectively, the new team members add significant technical and operational mining expertise to Pala’s existing portfolio of skills.
“Pala has had success
in the mining and natural resources sectors because we understand the sectors, our portfolio companies, their underlying business drivers and what they need to do to grow and expand,” stated Colin Murray, chief operations officer of Pala. “The technical and operational expertise of Kurt, Martyn and Philip will benefit not only Pala’s existing portfolio companies, but also Pala’s evaluation of new opportunities as our business activities continue to expand.”
Pala is pleased to welcome the following new team members.
Kurt Budge – Vice President (joining January 2010)
Kurt has over 12 years of mining experience, ranging from surface- and deep-mining operations to corporate roles.
Prior to joining Pala, Kurt worked for 5 years as Business Development Executive in Rio Tinto’s Business Evaluation & Development team. Kurt was engaged in M&A and asset divestment activities, as well as strategic and financial analysis of investment opportunities.
Kurt has worked on corporate organic growth projects at all stages of project development, from order of magnitude to feasibility. Kurt also conducted strategic analyses for market entry into new geographies and led due diligence on acquisition targets. Kurt’s global commodity experience with Rio Tinto includes copper, iron ore and aluminium.
Prior to joining Rio Tinto, Kurt worked for over 7 years in the UK coal industry for RJB Mining (currently UK Coal). Kurt held a number of senior management positions, including Director of Operations, Director of Mining and Director of Planning within the surface mining division.
Kurt managed both owner-operator and contracted operations, and as Director of Planning led the planning team through a significant period of success in permitting new mines.
Kurt received his MBA from the London Business School and holds an MEng (Hons) in Mining Engineering from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London.
Martyn Buttenshaw – Associate (joining January 2010)
With over 8 years of direct mining experience, Martyn has progressed steadily from a site mining engineer to corporate roles within global mining companies.
Prior to joining Pala, Martyn was a Business Development Manager with Anglo American plc in its ferrous business unit. Martyn’s primary responsibilities centered on the review and evaluation of potential iron ore investments in Canada, Brazil, West Africa and Australia.
Previously, Martyn spent five years working as a mining engineer with Rio Tinto in their technical services group and US Borax mining operations. His responsibilities included mine planning, budgeting and forecasting for Rio Tinto’s US Borax mining activities. In addition to borax, Martyn’s commodity mining experience includes gold, coal and potash operations.
Martyn holds an MBA (with distinction) from the London Business School and a MEng in Mining Engineering from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London.
Philip Clegg – Associate (joining December 2009)
As a geologist, Philip has applied his skills as an advisor in the mining and energy sectors for over 8 years.
Before joining Pala, Philip was a Senior Manager at Deloitte, where he was involved with numerous advisory projects, transactions and consulting engagements in the natural resources sector. Philip has been active across a broad spectrum of engagements for Vedanta Resources plc, Tullow Oil plc and OMV AG. He advised on the IPOs of Vedanta and Wilson Sons, various fixed rate and convertible bond issues for Vedanta and numerous due diligence projects in the natural resource sector. Philip’s commodities experience includes copper, iron ore, zinc, aluminium and oil.
Philip has advised numerous multi-national companies on various aspects of corporate structuring including tax efficiency, internal and external reporting, risk management and cash management through life-of-resource modeling. Additionally, he has assisted in the corporate structuring of asset acquisitions and dispositions including the valuation process.
Philip graduated from Oxford University with a Masters in Earth Sciences. He is a qualified chartered accountant (ACA).
About Pala
Pala is a multi-strategy investment advisory company focused on the mining and natural resources sector and the exclusive advisor to Pala Investments Holdings Limited, a US$1.0 billion investment company focused on mining and natural resource companies in both developed and emerging markets. Pala assists companies with which it partners by providing strategic advice and guidance, as well as innovative financing solutions to meet corporate capital requirements. For more information, visit www.pala.com :
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Pala Investments AGColin MurrayChief Operations Officer+41-41-560-9070
