Interim M&A Director

Interim M&A Director
c. €1800 per day
6 – 9 months
Travel required

Pearse Portfolio is supporting a PE-backed infrastructure platform in seeking an Interim M&A Director to lead and execute its buy and build strategy across Italy and wider Europe.

The business has a clear mandate to consolidate a fragmented market through acquisitions, the company has a strong pipeline of targets and needs a commercially sharp M&A leader to drive execution at pace.

This is a hands-on, execution focused interim engagement reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with the CFO and board.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own and drive the end to end M&A process from target identification through to deal completion and post merger integration
• Lead the roll-up acquisition strategy across Italy and selected European markets, managing a live pipeline of targets
• Conduct commercial and financial due diligence, working with external advisors and internal finance teams
• Build and present investment cases to the board and sovereign wealth fund stakeholders
• Negotiate deal terms, structure transactions, and manage all workstreams to signing and closing
• Oversee post acquisition integration planning, ensuring acquired assets are folded into the platform’s operating model
• Coordinate with legal, tax, and regulatory advisors across multiple European jurisdictions
• Report directly to the CEO and work closely with the CFO on financial modelling, valuation, and capital allocation

What we’re looking for:

• Proven track record of executing M&A transactions within a PE-backed or sponsor backed roll-up environment
• Trained at an investment bank or Big 4 advisory practice (M&A, transaction services, or corporate finance)
• Fluent Italian speaker with the ability to lead negotiations and stakeholder engagement in Italian
• Based in Italy or willing to be fully based there for the duration of the engagement
• Strong financial modelling, valuation, and deal structuring capabilities
• Experience managing multiple concurrent transactions across European jurisdictions
• Comfortable operating at pace in a lean, entrepreneurial platform environment with direct board exposure