Alcatel-Lucent appoints ex-banker as CFO

Alcatel-Lucent named former banker Jean Raby as its new CFO and chief legal officer starting Sept. 1, as the equipment manufacturer continues its turnaround under new CEO Michel Combes.

Raby

Raby replaces Paul Tufano and will relocate to Alcatel-Lucent's headquarters in Paris. He joins Alcatel-Lucent at a delicate time, as the company is in the middle of implementing a restructuring plan that was presented by Combes in June as part of efforts to become cash-flow positive by 2015.

Raby comes from a banking background and therefore brings with him experience in strategic and corporate finance. He served as a partner and managing director in the investment banking division at Goldman Sachs until the end of 2012 and worked across multiple industry sectors, including telecoms and information technologies. Previously, he worked as an associate attorney with Sullivan & Cromwell from 1989 to 1996.

"I am delighted to welcome Jean to the Alcatel-Lucent team at this particularly significant and important moment for the group," Combes said in a statement. "His extensive knowledge of the industry and his deep understanding of global financial markets in the widest sense will be of great value as we drive ahead with the implementation of the Shift Plan announced in June and in particular our objectives to reach €1 billion of selective asset sales, €2 billion of debt refinancing and €2 billion of debt reduction before the end of 2015."

One of Raby's main tasks will be to bolster the company's balance sheet. As part of the restructuring plan, Alcatel-Lucent will refinance around €2 billion ($2.7 billion) in debt to repay a loan it secured in January from Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, and it may also raise another €2 billion down the road to repay those debts, perhaps via asset sales or a share sale known as a rights issue

Raby is the second recent high-level executive appointment at the group: Philippe Guillemot was appointed as COO in June.

For more:
- see this Alcatel-Lucent release
- see this Bloomberg article

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