Leading Private Equity and battery materials investor, The Pallinghurst Group today announced the retirement of its Chairman and co-founder Brian Gilbertson.
Mr Gilbertson, together with Arne H. Frandsen and Andrew Willis, founded Pallinghurst in 2006, as one of his many achievements in a distinguished career that created several mining champions and reshaped the global natural resources industry forever.
Arne H. Frandsen co-managing partner and co-founder of Pallinghurst commented:
“My first job after law school, some 27 years ago, was as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs, and my first client was Brian Gilbertson, and the rest is history as the saying goes! Brian’s lifetime of leadership and trailblazing at Rustenburg Platinum, Gencor, Billiton, BHP Billiton, Rusal, Vedanta and Pallinghurst among others speak for itself, and cement his position as one of the truly greats of our industry.
When we created Pallinghurst 15 years ago, we did so based on the simple premise that as the world grows there will be an increased need for sustainably-sourced, strategically-placed raw materials.
Pallinghurst’s exclusive focus today is on investing in the full value-chain of key materials used for the global electrification and energy transition drive. It has been a privilege to partner with Brian for all these years, together, implementing strategies and developing a number of exciting businesses, unlocking financial wealth and creating thousands of jobs in the process.
Having served the industry with distinction for more than 50 years, Brian can indeed now “hang-up his boots” with satisfaction and enjoy a long and happy retirement.”
Today, Pallinghurst also announced the appointment of Dr Rod Baxter, Dr Lumkile Mondi, Julien Naginski, Betty Joy LeBlanc, George Nakos and Garth Higgo to the Pallinghurst Advisory Panel henceforth.
In addition, Dr Baxter is also appointed as Chairman of Pallinghurst Australia, as Pallinghurst expands its focus to investments in Australian battery material-assets.
Andrew Willis co-managing partner and co-founder of Pallinghurst commented:
“I salute Brian for his lifetime of achievements par excellence and we wish him well in his retirement. Brian has had an unrivalled impact on the natural resources industry and being his partner for the past 15 years has been an honour and a privilege.
Today, we also announce the establishment of the Pallinghurst Advisory Panel with six prominent industry professionals, based across Europe, North America, Australia and Africa. Their individual talent, skills and experiences in a broad range of disciplines with distinguished track records provide a unique pool of expertise for the Group. Together, we look forward to continuing the value creation in Pallinghurst’s current and new investments as we expand our portfolio of sustainably sourced battery and fuel-cell materials.”
Background information
Senior Advisors
Dr Rod Baxter is a natural resources professional and senior business executive with more than 30 years’ experience, principally in the mining and processing sectors but also other industries including construction, engineering and infrastructure development. His experience as a senior professional extends across manganese, copper, nickel, industrial minerals and platinum group metals – all minerals critical for energy transformation as well as battery and fuel cells. For the past 15 years he has served as CEO or executive director of a number of public – as well as unlisted companies.
Dr Lumkile Mondi is one of South Africa’s most prominent economists. He has more than 30 years of experience as a Chief Economist, scholar and senior business executive. His main focus has been economics, but he also has more than two decades of experience as an executive and non-executive director of natural resources companies, as well as renewable energy and infrastructure companies. As an independent director he has specific ESG expertise and the implementation of global best practice.
Mr Julien Naginski is senior external legal counsel to The Pallinghurst Group. Julien is a partner at Chammas & Marcheteau in Paris and is admitted to the bar in Paris, New York and England & Wales, and is a member of the board of the World Association of Mining Lawyers. Mr. Naginski is one of the leading legal minds inthe global natural resources industry. For the past 25 years, he has executed mining related deals in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Ms. Betty LeBlanc acts as the senior corporate communications and investor advisor to The Pallinghurst Group. Betty has the interface with the Group’s institutional investors, and is responsible for the growth of Pallinghurst’s investor base. Before joining Pallinghurst, she was in charge of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations for a number of natural resources companies
Mr George Nakos acts as senior external financial advisor to The Pallinghurst Group. He is Joint-CEO of Grey Matter financial advisory services. George has been advising Pallinghurst Group since its creation in 2006. He has been critical on a number of key M&A transactions as well as capital raisings for the group.
Mr Garth Higgo is an Australian based natural resources executive with 25 years of experience as a natural resources professional and senior business executive. Garth is a civil engineer and qualified accountant. He has held senior executive positions with some of the world’s biggest mining corporations.
Further biographical detail of the advisors are available at www.pallinghurst.com/team.
The Pallinghurst Group
The Pallinghurst Group is a leading strategic investor in the global battery materials industry with significant development, operational and financial expertise in mining and processing, with an exclusive focus on materials used for energy transition – facilitating the vital, global shift towards sustainable zero-carbon footprint energy storage.
Over the past 15 years, London-based Pallinghurst has invested almost US$3 billion of equity capital into a range of resource projects in Australia, Europe, Africa as well as North America. As a hands-on and active investor, Pallinghurst seeks to act as a catalyst for the developing and unlocking of value in a range of natural resources projects for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Pallinghurst typically invests in partnership with governments and prominent local investors. Pallinghurst’s investors consist of blue-chip family offices, sovereign wealth funds as well as specialised natural resources investors. Pallinghurst is exclusively owned by its active management team.
Pallinghurst has 30 employees with offices and assets in Canada, UK, Australia and South Africa. In total, The Pallinghurst Group has created more than 4,000 permanent jobs at its underlying investments.
For further information, contact:
Johannes van Niekerk: +27 (82) 921-9110
