Recruitment scam alert|We never ask candidates for payment. How to verify a message from us
Case Study: Global CFO Search for a Post-Merger Food and Beverage Platform
When two legacy organizations become one, the finance function either holds the integration together or becomes its greatest obstacle. Finlays Solutions and Leahy IFP needed a Global CFO who could do far more than manage the numbers. They needed a financial architect capable of unifying two organizations and building scalable infrastructure.
Cowen Partners Executive Search delivered exactly that leader.
Company Background
Finlays Solutions is a global beverage manufacturing and ingredients platform, further strengthened by the integration of Leahy IFP.
As part of the Finlays Group under John Swire & Sons, the organization brings together deep expertise in tea, coffee, botanical, and fruit ingredients with leading beverage manufacturing, solutions platforms and aseptic packaging capabilities.
Finlays Solutions operates under the ownership of John Swire and Sons, one of the world’s most respected privately held family office groups with a history dating back to 1816. That ownership structure shapes everything about how the business operates. Decisions are made with a long-term horizon, not a quarterly earnings mindset.
Leadership is expected to earn trust over time, operate with genuine humility, and align with a values-driven culture carefully preserved across generations. For the incoming CFO, that meant technical excellence was the baseline, not the differentiator. What the role truly demanded was a leader who understood how to operate with the discipline of a global enterprise and the relationship orientation of a family office simultaneously.
With operations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Kenya, Finlays Solutions serves major food service, retail, and consumer brands worldwide, including some of the most recognized names in the beverage industry.
The combined platform is built to deliver end-to-end beverage solutions from formulation to commercialization, and it is doing so at a scale that demands financial leadership of the highest order; a CFO who can operate at a genuinely global level while remaining deeply connected to the operational realities of the business.
The Challenge
Following the merger, Finlays Solutions engaged Cowen Partners Executive Search to identify its first-ever Global CFO for the combined organization.
Neither legacy CFO had been selected for the unified role, creating additional sensitivity around change management and organizational continuity. The incoming leader would need to earn the trust of long-tenured teams across two distinct operating models while moving quickly to build a unified finance function.
The search carried a demanding and multi-layered set of requirements. The new CFO needed to consolidate two legacy finance organizations into a single, cohesive global function while managing active ERP transitions across D365 and X3 environments. Multi-jurisdictional compliance across US GAAP, UK GAAP, and IFRS added complexity that demanded genuine global finance experience, not just international exposure.
At the same time, the business required a forward-thinking strategic partner to the CEO, not a traditional accounting operator. The incoming leader needed to bring M&A readiness, commercial orientation, and the ability to connect financial strategy directly to long-term shareholder value creation.
Perhaps most importantly, Finlays Solutions operates within an entrepreneurial, family-owned culture rooted in long-term thinking, collaboration, and accountability.
The CFO needed to lead with humility and presence in equal measure, building trust across a global organization while engaging credibly with the board in London and the leadership team in Glenview.
Search Strategy and Execution
Cowen Partners Executive Search partnered closely with Finlay’s CEO to build a search strategy that went well beyond a standard CFO specification.
The engagement began with deep discovery work, including alignment on merger objectives and the integration roadmap, the desired future-state finance organization, shareholder growth ambitions, cultural nuances between the two legacy organizations, and the long-term strategic expectations around M&A readiness.
Rather than recruiting against a generic profile, the team built a market map around a very specific kind of leader.
Profile Targeting
We focused exclusively on candidates with genuine global food and beverage manufacturing experience, integration and transformation leadership at a similar scale, ERP implementation expertise, strategic finance and commercial partnership capabilities, and a proven track record supporting M&A activity and organizational scaling.
Critically, we also prioritized candidates who had thrived inside entrepreneurial or family-owned environments, where influence, trust, and cultural alignment matter as much as technical capability.
This is a rare profile. The overlap between global food and beverage manufacturing experience, post-merger integration leadership, and the interpersonal range to operate effectively inside a family-office-backed culture is a narrow intersection. Finding it required precision, not volume.
How the Cowen Partners Executive Search Process Made the Difference
- Detailed upfront discovery that went well beyond standard job requirements gave the search a level of specificity that produced stronger candidates from the outset.
- Extensive candidate collateral and market positioning support helped attract executives who were not actively searching.
- Iterative calibration with leadership before scaling outreach ensured alignment was maintained as the profile sharpened in real time.
- Ongoing consultative guidance through interviews and compensation discussions, including the ability to keep multiple executive-caliber finalists engaged during a lengthy, globally influenced process, kept the search moving with momentum and confidence.
The Outcome
Cowen Partners Executive Search successfully placed a Global CFO whose background was built for exactly this moment in Finlays Solutions’ evolution.
The placed executive brought nearly two decades of progressive finance leadership inside one of the world’s most respected global spirits and beverage companies, including direct experience owning multi-billion dollar P&Ls, leading regional finance functions across EMEA and the Americas, managing multi-jurisdictional compliance and governance, and serving on boards of joint ventures across multiple countries. Their career included leading finance integration through acquisitions, building finance centers of excellence, and partnering directly with executive and board-level stakeholders on strategic planning, capital investment, and long-term growth initiatives.
Most significantly, the placed executive spent their career developing financial leadership capabilities inside a globally sophisticated, family-influenced beverage organization, building exactly the blend of strategic vision, operational discipline, and cultural intelligence that Finlays Solutions required.
- Global finance leadership spanning the Americas, EMEA, and international markets
- Proven experience leading post-merger finance integration and systems transformation
- Deep expertise in food and beverage manufacturing finance, pricing strategy, and capital investment
- Direct experience with multi-jurisdictional compliance across US GAAP and international standards
- Strong M&A, treasury, and capital strategy background
- Hands-on, collaborative leadership style aligned with an entrepreneurial, family-owned culture
- Board-level engagement experience across joint ventures and global stakeholder groups
Strategic Impact
Finlays Solutions now has the Global CFO, its next chapter demands. The incoming leader is positioned to unify two legacy finance organizations into a single high-performing global function, drive ERP consolidation and systems modernization, strengthen the company’s M&A readiness and capital strategy, and serve as a true strategic partner to the CEO and the board in London as the business pursues its path to $1B and beyond.
The placement also sends an important signal internally. By bringing in a proven global leader with deep beverage industry credibility and the cultural range to bridge two legacy organizations, Finlays Solutions has demonstrated its commitment to building a finance function that is genuinely world-class.
Final Thoughts
Post-merger CFO searches are among the most complex and consequential engagements in executive search. But placing a Global CFO inside a family-office-backed, globally operating food and beverage business adds a layer of nuance that most search processes are not equipped to navigate.
Family office environments like John Swire and Sons do not simply want a qualified executive. They want someone who understands that the business they are joining has been built across generations, that trust is earned slowly and lost quickly, and that financial leadership in this context means serving the long-term mission of the enterprise as much as it means hitting near-term targets. That cultural expectation, combined with the technical demands of a post-merger integration spanning three countries, active ERP transitions, and a growth roadmap toward $1B, made this one of the most layered searches Cowen Partners Executive Search has undertaken in the food and beverage space.
We built the search around a deep understanding of all of it. By mapping the market with precision, maintaining iterative alignment with leadership throughout the process, and managing a globally influenced search with the consultative rigor the moment required, we delivered a leader whose background in global food and beverage finance, including experience supporting some of the world’s most iconic spirits and beverage brands, made them uniquely prepared for everything this role demands.
The right CFO exists for every organization at every stage of its growth. In the food and beverage world, where family ownership, global scale, and operational complexity converge, finding that person takes a search partner who understands all three.
About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Cowen Partners Executive Search is a premier executive search firm in all 50 states, dedicated to connecting organizations with top-tier talent that drives strategic objectives and fuels success.
Our executive recruiters:
- Specialize in C-Suite, board, and senior leadership placements
- Provide unparalleled access to the top 1% of leaders across diverse industries.
Our proven processes and guaranteed results have empowered hundreds of clients in sectors including (but not limited to):
Partner with us to find world-class leaders who will accelerate your company’s growth and success.
To learn more about how Cowen Partners Executive Search can support your organization’s executive search needs, complete this form and/or explore the resources below.
Schedule a Call.
Fill out the email request form to learn more about our approach.