John Porter
Non-executive Director and Chairman
(appointed 2 April 2012)
Mr. Porter has been Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
of Austar United Communications Limited since 23 June 1999. Mr. Porter
was Managing Director of Austar Entertainment Pty Limited from July 1997 to
December 1999. From January 1997 to August 1999, he also served as the Chief
Operating Officer of United Asia Pacific, Inc. (“UAP”). Mr. Porter led the
establishment of Austar Entertainment Pty Limited in 1995, and by doing so
played an integral role in the development of Australia’s subscription
television industry.
Prior to joining AUSTAR, Mr. Porter spent ten years in various
senior management capacities for Time Warner Cable, a subsidiary of Time
Warner, Inc. Mr. Porter has more than 25 years of management experience in the
US and Australian subscription television industries.
Mr. Porter served as the president on the Board of the Australian
Subscription Television and Radio Association, and is a director of Multi
Channel Network, a position he has held since March 2000.
Brendon Cook
CEO and Managing Director
(appointed 15 November 2002)
Brendon Cook founded Outdoor Network Australia, now known as oOh!media, in 1989.
Mr Cook has had 31 years experience in outdoor media with companies including Australian Posters, Britescreens and Alan Davis.
Mr Cook is also a board member of the OMA (Outdoor Media Association of Australia) and has, for more than 14 years, been an active member of the Executive Connection Group, an international organisation dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of CEOs.
Chris Bregenhoj
Executive Director
(appointed 20 February 2000)
Christopher Bregenhoj worked for 13 years in Hong Kong where he started his career as a practicing accountant and became a partner in KPMG.
Subsequently he joined Morgan Grenfell (Hong Kong) Limited as an Associate Director.
In 1988 he returned to Australia where he established First Equity Capital Ltd, a private investment banking and corporate advisory company which joined with Consortium Capital Limited and Gemini Investment Holdings Limited to form Gemini Capital Limited in 1996.
He was appointed as non-executive chairman of Human Therapeutics Group in December 1999 and has been a director of oOh!media Group Limited since its incorporation on 28th February 2000 as Pi2 Ltd.
Darren Smorgon
Non-executive Director
(appointed 2 April 2012)
Darren Smorgon is a Director of CHAMP Private Equity, and has been
with the CHAMP group since 1999. His responsibilities include all aspects of
the investment and portfolio company management process including deal
origination and execution, portfolio company monitoring and exit management.
During 2000-2001, he spent 12 months in New York with CHAMP's New York based
affiliate, Castle Harlan, Inc. where he worked on the sale of Ion Track
Instruments, Inc.
Darren holds Bachelor of Economics (with Merit) and Masters of
Commerce (with Merit) degrees from the University of New South Wales and is an
Associate of the Securities Institute of Australia.
Darren is a member of the Board of Directors and Investment
Committee of the CHAMP Group. He is also a Director of two CHAMP portfolio
companies - Golding Contractors Pty Limited and the LCR Group. Previous
directorships of CHAMP portfolio companies include Study Group, Penrice and
Australian Discount Retail.
Barry Zuckerman
Non-executive Director
(appointed 2 April 2012)
Mr Zuckerman joined CHAMP Private Equity in 2001 and is the Finance
Director for the CHAMP group of companies. He is responsible for the
finance and operations infrastructure of the group and manages the day-to-day
financial operations for the funds.
He has extensive experience with acquisitions, due diligence,
structuring, listed reporting and accounting for mortgage, property, equity
trusts (both retail and wholesale), taxation and compliance. His funds
management industry experience was initially with the Howard Group, and
subsequently with Challenger International Limited (“Challenger”), both listed
ASX companies. He was the CFO and a member of the Executive Committee of
Challenger and played a significant role in the emergence of Challenger from a
niche investment bank into a top 100 listed business. Prior to that, Mr
Zuckerman gained professional experience with Ernst & Young and
PricewaterhouseCoopers in audit and in information systems.
Mr Zuckerman received an AVCAL Outstanding Service award for
disclosure guidelines in 2004 and won the AVCAL award for Excellence in
Investor Reporting in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Mr Zuckerman holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University
of Cape Town, South Africa and is a member of The Australian Institute of
Chartered Accountants.
Mr Zuckerman is a member of the International Private Equity and
Valuation (IPEV) Board. He is a Board Member of Centric Wealth Limited
and was formerly a Director of Healthcare Australia
Paul Kennedy
Non-executive Director
(appointed 2 April 2012)
Mr Kennedy joined CHAMP in 2005. He is responsible for the
assessment of potential investment opportunities, the management of third party
due diligence processes, and participates in the portfolio management of
CHAMP’s investee companies. Recently Mr
Kennedy was on secondment for twelve months with CHAMP’s affiliated office in
New York, Castle Harlan, Inc.
Prior to joining CHAMP, Mr Kennedy worked in Credit Suisse First
Boston’s investment banking division where he was involved in a number of
merger and acquisition assignments across a broad range of industry
sectors.
Mr Kennedy holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Science
(Mathematics and Computer Science) from the University of Adelaide and a Master
of Business Administration (With Distinction) from INSEAD, France.
Mr Kennedy is currently an Alternate Director of Centric Wealth
Limited and was previously an Alternate Director of both Healthcare Australia
Pty Limited and Food Holdings Pty Limited.
Geoffrey C Wild AM
Non-Executive Director
(appointed 10 July 2007)
Geoffrey Wild has spent over thirty years in the advertising industry, including as Deputy Chairman of Clemenger BBDO, and a Board Member of BBDO Worldwide.
He was Chairman of the NSW Tourism Commission, and a Director of the Sydney Olympic Committee Bid Company and one of four Vice Presidents of that Committee.
Currently Mr Wild sits on several boards including as Chairman of WPP Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd. He is Deputy Chairman of Arab Bank Australia Limited, and a long serving Board Member of the PGA (Professional Golf Association) and Phil Ruthven’s IBIS World, the business and economic forecasting group.
He is a former Director of the NSW TAB Limited and OPSM.He was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in 2000, for his contribution to business, tourism and the Olympics.
