Simon Kerry

Background

About Simon Kerry

My career commenced with Ferrier Hodgson (Melbourne) in 1997 with an initial focus on insolvency assignments. During this time I also completed my Chartered Accountant qualification. My area of work evolved into distressed debt reviews and workout situations with various Australian and overseas lenders. Following this I worked on a number of advisory, reconstruction and valuation assignments for lenders and private equity investors whilst working for Kroll in London (2.5 years) and then Ferrier Hodgson in Hong Kong (1.5 years). Upon returning to Australia I worked for KPMG in the Transaction Services division for a little over a year in what was an extremely busy time given the economic conditions immediately preceding the GFC. My area of work focused on vendor and acquisition due diligence. I accepted a role with Downer in 2008 within the Infrastructure Works division, responsible for M&A and the integration of acquired businesses. In 2010 I was made General Manager - Operations reporting to the COO of Downer Group. Here I was responsible for managing all M&A transactions across the Downer Group as well as other Business and Strategy reviews. In 2011 following the establishment of Downer Infrastructure I was appointed to the role of General Manager Business Improvement & Investment. In 2014 I returned to a Downer Group role overseeing M&A and potential project investments - General Manager Corporate Finance & Investment. During this time I managed the successful acquisitions of various businesses including Tenix, VEC Group, RPQ, Hawkins Group and ITS Pipetech as well as the divestment of the Downer Mining divisions Rimtec business. Following Downer's acquisition of Spotless in 2017, I was seconded to Spotless to head up the finance function for the Infrastructure & Construction division (now called Asset & Development Services). This role included the integration of various Downer and Spotless businesses to create the Infrastructure & Construction division. This division now turns over approximately $500m and I continue to head up the Finance function for this division.