PPR appointed Todd Hymel, an M&A specialist, as chief operating officer of the PPR Sport & Lifestyle division. He will be based in Paris and will report directly to Jochen Zeitz, chief executive officer of PPR Sport & Lifestyle division. The division includes Puma, Volcom, Cobra, Electric and Tretorn.
Hymel will be in charge to supporting the expansion of existing brands and the integration of new brands within the Sport & Lifestyle division, while pursuing the delivery of operational synergies. His expertise and experience gained in the field of mergers & acquisitions will help him contribute to grow the PPR Sport & Lifestyle brand portfolio.
A US national, Todd Hymel joined PPR Group in 2008 as Deputy Director of Mergers & Acquisitions, after holding various positions in auditing, consulting and private equity in the USA and in France.
Hymel began his career in audit in 1996 at KPMG in New Orleans. He then served as Senior Manager in KPMG's Transaction Services department in Chicago where he was mainly involved in acquisition and disposal due diligence audits, before being appointed to the Paris office to handle transborder deals.
In 2003, Mr. Hymel joined the European office of Platinum Equity in Paris. In late 2006, he left Platinum Equity to co-found Naxos CapitalPartners, a private equity firm specialized in small- and mid-caps.
Hymel joined PPR Group in 2008, as Deputy Director of Mergers & Acquisitions. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Fansteel Inc. as well as the Board of Volcom as of June 2011.
Todd Hymel, 38, holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of New Orleans.
PPR also announced the appointment of Federico Barbieri as Senior Vice President of E-business, in replacement of Fabien Sfez. He will be in charge of supporting and speeding up the pace of the digital strategy for PPR Luxury and Sport & Lifestyle brands, by developing inter-brand synergies and coordinating e-business projects.
A former European Manager of Bottega Veneta, Federico Barbieri, an Italian national, enjoys a solid expertise in marketing and new digital technologies, along with excellent knowledge about international scale retail.
Federico Barbieri will keep his current duties at Bottega Veneta, as Worlwide eBusiness & Digital Communication Director.
PPR also operates a Luxury Goods division (Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Boucheron, Brioni, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Sergio Rossi and Stella McCartney) and Fnac and Redcats.
