Dean Hawkins
Director EcoCover Developments Limited
Dean Hawkins has been leading international businesses at the
forefront of the sport, entertainment and digital media industries
for the past 12 years. He has held positions in Australia, the
UK, Germany and Switzerland and his responsibilities have ranged
from CFO of a DAX30 company with a global business spread across
100 countries, to positions as President and COO of rapidly growing
private companies.
Dean has also restructured, re-built and sold companies, dealt
with Government and regulatory bodies at senior levels, and closed
large transactions as a vendor, supplier, acquirer and banker,
including IPOs, secondary equity offerings, an intra-group merger
and a €1.5 billion acquisition.
Dean has taken up Board positions in 2 companies. As well as being
a Director of EcoCover, he is Chairman of Skins Consolidated Pty
Ltd, a specialist international sportswear company with its roots
in Australia.
From 2000 to 2006, Dean was President and COO, and a member of
the Board, of 2 rapidly growing companies in the television and
digital media industries in the UK - Video Networks and Chello
Media. Video Networks was the UK's first IPTV platform, delivering
broadcast and on-demand TV, broadband and phone services. The Chello
business included broadcast TV channels, video-on-demand operations,
digital TV services and was, for a period, Europe's largest broadband
ISP. It is now part of Liberty Global.
Dean also spent 6 months as a consultant to one of the founders
of Microsoft, restructuring his investment in Video Networks, including
re-negotiating major contracts with Hollywood studios and BT. He
has continued in the role of Board Member of the Bermudan company
which holds the investment.
From 1996 to 2000 Dean was CFO of one of Germany's largest companies,
adidas AG, during which time the company's market capitalisation
grew from €1.5bn to €8bn. As well as running the Finance
team, Dean had responsibility for the brand management and product
sourcing subsidiaries (located in Amsterdam and Hong Kong), and
was responsible for internet strategy, managing shareholder & analyst
relationships and M&A.
Prior to joining adidas he was an investment banker at UBS in
Zurich where he was a founding member of the equity corporate finance
team, executing the first IPO led by UBS, and ultimately leading
the IPO of Adidas.
Dean was chosen as one of the "Global Corporate Finance Superstars
of 1998" by Global Finance magazine, and was a member of the
European Union's Business Panel on Cross Border Investment and
a member of Ofcom's LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) Executive in the
UK.
Dean is a member of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television
Arts), having picked up BAFTA and Emmy awards during his period
of leadership at Video Networks.
