February 04, 2011
Signium International, an international firm specialized in executive search talent management services at the highest level, welcomes two new Partners; Santiago Acaso, responsible for the TICE (Technology, IT, Communications and Entertainment) Practice, and Sergio Rivas, to lead the FMCG, Franchise and Distribution Practice. Based in the Madrid office, Santiago and Sergio will be in charge of business development and project execution for the firm’s clients, in their respective practices, in order to provide the highest level of service to companies with an international vocation and who champion sector leadership through recruiting and retaining the best executive talent.
In 2004 the firm arrived to the Iberian Peninsula under the name Bao & Partners, with offices in Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon (Portugal). In 2010 it became Signium International Iberia due to the addition of the group’s Italian office in Milan to Iberian management. In its seventh year of activity the firm boasts a multidisciplinary and multicultural team of 30 professionals of 8 different nationalities, operating in the Financial, Professional (Legal and Consulting), TICE (Technology, Information, Communications & Entertainment), Distribution & Consumer Goods, Healthcare & Pharmaceutical, Real Estate & Tourism, and Energy & Natural Resources sectors. Since opening operations on the Iberian Peninsula, the firm has successfully carried out projects for national and international clients, 15 of which are quoted on the Spanish Stock Exchange and 12 of which included in the IBEX 35. Signium International provides executive management consulting services companies that want to attract, develop and retain the best talents in their markets.
Santiago Acaso
Santiago has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), an MBA from ESDEN (Spain) and degrees in Strategic Marketing from INDEAD (Spain) and Information Systems form MIT (Cambridge, USA). He has more than 30 years’ professional experience in which he has held both technical and business development positions, and reaching positions of General Director and European Vice President in leading global technology companies such as: Xerox Eng. Systems, SAP, Siebel o Peoplesoft. He joins Signium International as Partner with more than 7 years’ experience in the Executive Search profession. Currently he is a Professor and Academic Director of the Executive Master in Commercial and Marketing Management at IE Business School (Spain), and a frequent speaker at various international conferences, as well as an adviser for various companies. Santiago has collaborated with the monthly publication, Harvard Business Review, and speaks English, French and Spanish.
Sergio Rivas
Sergio has a Bachelor’s degree from the San Pablo CEU University in Madrid (Spain) and an MBA from IE Business School (Spain). With more than 20 years’ experience, he has developed his professional career in the retail, franchise and direct sales sectors where he has been a top executive in both national and international companies; Founding Partner in several projects and Consultant for several Private Equity companies. Before joining Signium International, he has held positions such as Founding Partner and General Director of Imaginarium Portugal, and later General Director of Expansion and Franchises for the same firm worldwide; President and General Director for Burger King Spain & Southern Europe; Founding Partner and CEO of various belonging to Retail & Expansion Group and Founding Partner in Spain of Agel, a leading North American direct sales company. He has been awarded on more than 10 occasions during his time at Imaginarium and Burger King, and is the Spanish executive with the most awards in the Franchise sector, including an award for “The Most Outstanding Professional in the Spanish Franchise Sector”. Sergio is a professor of Entrepreneur Management in the Executive MBA program at IE Business School and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association of the same. He speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese.
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About Signium International (Worldwide)
Founded in 1951 in New York by Wardwell Howell, Signium International is currently represented in 27 countries around the world by 43 offices with more than 150 highly qualified executive search and HR consultants. In this way the firm provides high quality services and a consistent methodology for both the national and multinational client, brining both a global perspective as well as key local knowledge to each project.
Signium International as one of the founding firms of AESC (The Association of Executive Search Consultants), that has develop the professional Code of Ethics for the sector, which are upheld by the firm today. Signium International was the first Executive Search firm to also become a member of ASCRI (Spanish Association of Private Equity Entities).
Signium International Iberia represents the firm in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon (Portugal), and Milan (Italy).