The Supervisory Board of Fugro N.V. has decided to nominate Barbara Geelen for appointment as member of the Board of Management and Chief Financial Officer as of May 12, 2021.
She has been Chief Financial Officer at HES International for the past seven years. Barbara Geelen will succeed Paul Verhagen, who steps down as CFO at the upcoming general meeting of shareholders to become CFO at ASM International.
Barbara Geelen (47) has extensive experience in financial management, including corporate finance, project financing, strategic planning, (re)structuring, mergers & acquisitions and management information systems. From 2014 till 2021 she has been CFO at HES International, one of Europe's largest independent bulk handling companies with operations across Europe, owned by private equity. Prior to that Geelen held various (leading) roles at ABN AMRO and gained experience in equity and high yield capital markets transactions, restructuring of companies and managing client teams, among others in the energy sector. She has extensive international experience, having been stationed in London and Singapore.
Harrie Noy, Chairman of the Supervisory Board: “We are pleased that Barbara will join Fugro as our new CFO. She has a broad financial background with a strong track record of improving financial performance, based on well-developed execution skills and a hands-on management style. Barbara will play a key role in the implementation of our Path to Profitable Growth strategy, with a particular focus on achieving our financial goals. She has the experience and drive to make a strong contribution to Fugro’s ongoing transformation.”
Mark Heine, CEO: “I am confident that Barbara is the right person to further develop the finance function to continue to improve results, building upon the solid foundations that were put in place by Paul Verhagen. Together with the entire team at Fugro, I am very much looking forward to working with Barbara in the years to come.”
Barbara Geelen: “For me it’s exciting to join Fugro and being involved in such relevant topics as the energy transition, climate change adaptation and sustainable infrastructure development. The company is in a successful transformation process, also financially, and I am very much looking forward to contribute to this, working together with Mark, the Executive Leadership Team and many others in Fugro.”
The nomination of Barbara Geelen as member of the Board of Management in the role of CFO for a period of four years until the general meeting of shareholders in 2025, will be submitted to shareholders for approval at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be convened on 12 May 2021. This also will be the date of her start as CFO with Fugro.
