Mr. Martin has over 30 years of finance and operations experience. He has served as the CFO of a NYSE company with $1.5 billion in sales and as a divisional CFO for two larger NYSE companies. While in one of the divisional roles, Bob worked and resided in Europe for eight years and had responsibilities across Europe and in South Africa. In the other divisional role, he also had international responsibilities, including with Asian and South American markets. After being CFO of the NYSE company, he was involved with two large global equity investors and has consulted for several companies, public and private.
He has predominately worked in the following industries:
- Apparel & Textiles
- Consumer Products
- Pharmaceutical & Biotech
- Sports & Leisure
Selected highlights over his career are:
- Performed operational due diligence for Oaktree Capital and Blackstone Group.
- Restructured financing of a NYSE company, raising $250M public debt and adding $325M revolver/term loan facilities. Achieved record low debt levels through initiative to improve cash availability.
- Reduced $4M of administrative annual costs by analyzing and restructuring internal processes including elimination of management layers.
- Partnered with CEO to manage a portfolio of European businesses with $300M in sales that grew to $2B primarily through acquisitions, while achieving significant improvement in return-on-sales and return-on-investment. Actively involved in due diligence, transition and integration. Started companies in Greece and Poland.
- Consulting assignments have included operating as a Financial Advisor/Interim CFO in the following industries: Bio-Tech, Distribution, Public Pharmaceutical, Public Consumer Goods, Public Specialty Insurer, Golf course owner/operator, Apparel Start-up. Also served as a mentor to various CFOs and controllers.
Over his career, Bob has worked for several companies including: Russell Corporation as CFO/Senior Vice President; Sunbeam Corporation as CFO/Senior Vice President, International; and Sara Lee Corporation as CFO/Vice President, Apparel
He earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2010, serves on the Georgia Tech Alumni Board of Trustees and is an emeritus member of the Board of Advisors of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
He currently serves on the Board of Hedge Path Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (HPPI). He also participates in an advisory role for a Career Mentors organization and has been on the Advisory Council for the University of North Carolina Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER). Mr. Martin served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps.