Pavi Binning to be new CFO at Nortel, based from Toronto
Nortel President and CEO Mike Zafirovski has announced the appointment of Pavi S. Binning as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective November 12, 2007. Binning is a senior executive with more than 25 years of financial experience, including chief financial officer positions at Hanson PLC and Marconi PLC.
“We conducted a thorough global search for our new CFO because I wanted the right candidate for the job. We found that with Pavi Binning,” said Mike Zafirovski. “With the appointment of Pavi – a proven leader with extensive expertise in operational execution and a track record of excellence – Nortel reaffirms its commitment to fielding a finance organization that is second to none. With the foundation now firmly in place, Pavi will move the yardstick to the next level in our finance transformation further enabling us to compete and win in the market.”
While at Marconi, Binning was responsible for building a strong financial function, as well as working with the Chief Executive Officer on creating strategic and operational improvements and executing a corporate turnaround. During his tenure the company became a profitable, cash-flow positive business.
Binning spent the majority of his career at Diageo PLC, a large, global consumer goods business that owns premium drink brands such as Smirnoff, Johnny Walker, Guinness and Bailey’s. In a variety of financial leadership roles, Binning gained valuable experience for both businesses in growth and in turnaround. Binning will be joining Nortel from his position of Group Financial Director (CFO) at Hanson PLC, which is one of the world’s leading suppliers of aggregates and heavy building materials.
“I believe that Nortel will be one of the most significant turnaround stories in corporate history, and I am excited to be part of it,” said Binning. “They have already made tremendous progress and they have strong customer and partner momentum which suggests that people want them to succeed. There are many challenges ahead but I am looking forward to competing and winning as part of this strong, passionate leadership team.”
Binning will also be appointed Executive Vice President and CFO of Nortel Networks Limited, Nortel’s principal operating subsidiary. Binning will be based in Toronto. David Drinkwater, who has been acting CFO, will return to the position of Chief Legal Officer (CLO). Gordon Davies, who has been acting CLO, will return to the position of General Counsel – Corporate and Corporate Secretary.
About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com.