Marin: Restructuring can fail if no attention is paid to details

Marius Marin, the current CEO with construction materials producer Macon Deva, who has helped to restructure several companies such as Tofan Group, Uton Onesti and Mefin Sinaia, says a company’s reorganisation can fail if the team fails to pay attention to details.
“First, the business should be grasped and then a tolerant team must be created to work with future employees. Usually, workers only have a one-month outlook in mind and must be persuaded to look at the long-term advantages. Control and attention to detail are essential in restructuring a business because in Romania the situation is different from Germany, where workers know what to do,” says Marin, 47, who has restructured five companies in the past 14 years. He has held the CEO position with Macon Deva since August 2006.
In 2006, Macon Deva was taken over by Polish investment fund Enterprise Investors, one of the biggest fund managers in CEE, for 35m euros, from the Employees’ Association.
The company’s former managers became millionaires in euros after the sale of shares, with the biggest sum (above 3.66m euros), being collected by Liviu Cucu, the former general manager of Macon, together with his wife, Felicia. Currently, 70% of middle management positions are held by former employees of the company, while the rest are new employees.
“In change management, there’s a rule called 70%-30%. First, around 30% of the management must be changed because they’re adversaries. Around 30% are allies and the remaining 40% are adversaries, but do not understand change,” explains Marin, who believes Romanian workers have to be taught to make decisions responsibly. In addition, the culture of change management is different depending where you go.
Enterprise Investors, through Macon Deva, is currently involved in the takeover of Simcor Oradea, in a deal put at around 53m euros.

Has restructured five companies in the past 14 years
The toughest restructuring process was carried out during the 1994-1999 period, when he became the chairman-general manager of Uton Onesti, a producer of equipment for the chemicals industry
Another complex restructuring process was carried out at Tofan Grup