Governance
Chairman & non-executive director
Board leadership through restructuring, cultural change and turnarounds. Twenty five years of taking companies from drift to decision, with the governance to keep them there.
Lisbon — base since 1995
Born on a small Danish island in 1962. Eight EMEA countries, twenty-five years a Iberic executive, and one city that stopped being a posting and became a base.
Boards are full of counsel; they are short on accountability.
As a non-executive chairman, I help boards turn strategy into accountable execution. Born in Denmark, an Iberic executive for 25 years with base in Lisbon, Portugal.
Focused on governance, board management and non-executive turnarounds — setting direction, aligning leadership and holding execution to account. Capital is secondary: a tool to support the strategy when the opportunity is right.
More about how I work
- Transacted
- +€1B
- Mandates closed
- +35
- Sectors
- 15
- Countries
- 8
Governance, board, capital
Governance and board management, with capital in support.
Board management
From boardroom to execution
Setting a clear agenda, aligning owners and management, and ensuring decisions become measurable action. Decades across eight EMEA countries implementing Nordic and Anglo-Saxon management.
Supporting capital
Capital & M&A
Funding and transactions in service of an agreed board strategy — including expansion finance, divestments, mergers and acquisitions.
Track record
Led inside brands that define their category.
2010–2015
MiniSom / AudioNova, Spain
CEO & Chairman2008–2009
Air Alpha
CEO2004–2008
Inditex — Zara, Massimo Dutti
Scandinavian MD2002–2004
IC Group — Tiger of Sweden, Peak Performance
MD, Southern Europe1999–2002
Vista Alegre Atlantis
Managing Director1995–1999
Novodesign / Brandia
Managing DirectorIntroduction
A short introduction, in his own words.
Loads YouTube only when you press play.
Exclusive mandates
Off-market opportunities, handled quietly.
Study the mandate portfolios below and contact me directly for teasers and any further information.
Corporate
Teasers for exclusive mandate, off-market corporate investment opportunities.
See more →Real estate
Exclusive mandate, off-market Iberian real estate — from single assets to portfolio transactions.
See more →Hotel business
Off-market hotel businesses under exclusive mandate, including a €260m beachfront portfolio at +5% yield.
See more →Fine art
Off-market art under exclusive mandate — sellers of fine and rare art desire discretion.
See more →The focus is corporate and energy. Real estate, hotel and fine art mandates continue alongside them, as do occasional sports, finance, yield, tech and health opportunities.
Writing
Essays on governance, capital, and the boardroom.
Written Rules, Unwritten Enforcement · essays on governanceRead All EssaysWhat others say
Twenty-six years leaves witnesses.
Twenty-one of them
01 / 21
Jesper is somewhat of a business genius. On all things Portuguese, obviously the best-connected and most insightful person in the room. But much more than that. Seldom have I met someone who brings such a diverse background to bear and sees opportunities where they are and calls all the BS when it's there. Jesper has connected me to a range of business visionaries and I try to do the same right back, because I know that Jesper's competencies and experiences from turnarounds, corporate leadership, entrepreneurship, board work, and the investment space will make people and companies smarter and more successful.
Kristoffer Nilaus TarpHead of Investor Relations, Impact Fund Denmark26 March 2024Contact
Ask me in.
Every conversation is confidential. For a chair, a turnaround, a divestment or raise: write me. I always have time, but it is later than you think.