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Anne Soenen
CEO FBN Belgium
CEO of FBN Belgium, is an accomplished professional with an extensive background in law, business management, and executive search. She holds a Law Degree from the University of Ghent (1983) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies from Vlerick Ghent Business School (2002). Anne began her career in HR at Unisys, then moved into recruitment consultancy with De Witte & Morel and Robert Half International, where she launched their Ghent office.
From 2000, she served as General Manager at the Federation of Recruitment Consultancies, later integrating it into Federgon. Anne also gained experience as Commercial Manager in the media sector before joining Odgers Berndtson in 2004 as Associate Partner, managing in parallel RB Selection.
Since 2017, Anne has been the CEO of FBN Belgium, and she currently serves as Secretary General ad interim on the board of Pink Ribbon, the charity for breast-Cencer prevention.
Session
When an agreed generational transition hits a roadblock
Case Study
Roles and interaction between now-gen and next-gen in redefining next-generation ownership and governance.
The session will present the generational transition case of Ardo, a 1.4b leader in frozen foods with a strong commitment to sustainability and regenerative agriculture, owned and managed by 7 cousins to the next generation of 21. The case will be presented in slide form with intermediate decision points to get a reaction from the audience and with a Q&A facilitated by the moderator.
An earlier case presentation at the 2017 FBN Summit focused on the rather unique 2014 merger process between two competing branches of the same family and the resulting family, shareholder and company governance, with a shareholder agreement for 10 years.
This session discusses how the family- three years before the date- embarked on the handover process, putting the next generation in the lead to write their own story in terms of agreements and governance for their generation, with a new family charter and ownership agreement.
The process hit a roadblock just before signing, however, as the youngest of the second-generation cousins declared that he still decided for his children and wanted to sell to grow his own business.
Should the family buy him out, or privilege the company's growth by bringing in an external party, thereby leaving 100% ownership?