Ion Tiriac appoints CEO to run his businesses

Anca Ioan, one of the most respected consultants on the domestic market, has been chosen by Ion Tiriac, one of Romania”s richest men, to run his businesses, which are estimated at over one billion euros.

Anca Ioan has run the local office of German consulting company Roland Berger Strategy Consultants since 1999, and will now become chief executive officer of Tiriac Holdings next month, which either directly or indirectly controls businesses in the banking, insurance, leasing, automotive and real estate sectors.

She will be replaced at the helm of Roland Berger Romania by Codrut Pascu, 30, who will become the youngest manager of a consultancy multinational on the market.

“I was contacted by Ion Alexandru Tiriac (Tiriac Jr.) earlier this summer, who, in his position as representative of the majority shareholder, told me he wanted to build a management team to define the strategic orientation of the Tiriac group and create the premises for the sustainable development of Tiriac Holdings. The group needs an operational structure, to capitalise on the synergies of the group”s companies and channel new investment into fields that have the most potential,” Ioan told Ziarul Financiar.

The companies of the Tiriac group have developed at different speeds since 1990 and the goals of the newly installed management team include identifying clear paths for each separate business. Existing businesses will be developed, though Tiriac Holdings will also tap into new business areas. Tiriac Holdings will mainly focus on the real estate sector in the near future, an area experiencing strong growth and with attractive profit margins.

The list of candidates for the newly created CEO position at Tiriac Holdings saw Ioan compete with other big names, mostly expatriates with industrial and banking-finance backgrounds.

Anca Ioan has signed a four-year management contract with Tiriac.

The move represents an attempt by the Romanian businessman to delegate some of his responsibilities, in a business that is getting larger and more complex, in order to find more time for his hobbies, which include hunting.

Tiriac Holdings turns over more than one billion euros and comprises the operations of Banca Tiriac (soon to merge with HVB to create HVB-Tiriac), insurance company Allianz Tiriac (controlled by Germany”s Allianz Group) and Tiriac Leasing (importer and distributor of ten automobile brands including Ford, Mercedes, Hyundai and Mitsubishi).

Tiriac”s group of companies has been a client of the local office of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, which assisted him in his first attempt to sell his insurance company to Allianz.

After ten years in the consultancy industry, Anca Ioan will be replaced by Codrut Pascu at the helm of Roland Berger”s office in Romania.

“We are going through a phase of expansion for our local office with larger executive teams, with consultants that are familiar with what is happening in Europe and with the realities of the domestic environment,” Codrut Pascu, the new managing partner of the Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Romania, told Ziarul Financiar.