End of an era
It’s been a busy few weeks for Azure Capital investment banker Geoff Rasmussen (pictured).
Not only did he have to pack for his fundraising climb of Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro with mates like iiNet chief Mike Malone and Scoop Magazine publisher Dave Hogan, but The Note discovered he had a reunion to organise as well.
Saturday week ago some 20 members of the 50-strong alumni of Poynton and Partners met at Galileo Restaurant in Shenton Park to celebrate the good old days before they dispersed far and wide after South African firm AST bought out the group, including management consulting firm GEM (see page 12).
Among the attendees, and The Note can’t mention them all, were bundles of local management consulting players like Carl Adams, Robert Radley and Tri Suseno. Former GEM management Brian Beresford and Darren Smith, now at PwC with Mr Radley were there too, as was Quickflix chief Simon Hodge, Natural Newborn founder Jo Ipock and Banksia Capital founder Yehuda Cohen.
Of course, the shindig would not have been quite the same without John Poynton, whose name was on the original shingle.
Among the notable absentees were UWA Business School dean Tracey Horton, Linc Property founder Ben Lisle and another Azure founder Mark Barnaba.
Mr Barnaba and another non-starter Bryant Plavsic were no doubt busy stitching together their deal to turn Australasia Consolidated into an M&A vehicle headed by former Alinta chief and outgoing Austal CEO Bob Browning