Mr Stephen Gill is Managing Partner of Pala Investments (Pala), the Company’s cornerstone shareholder, where he oversees the investment activities of the firm, including private equity and debt investments, in addition to the firm’s trading strategies. Prior to Pala, Stephen worked with Amec advising industrial and natural resources companies on corporate transactions and environmental regulatory matters, including the IPO of the Kazakh state oil company; and venture capital for Recovco, an aluminum recycling technology company.
Stephen has over 20 years’ experience in international strategic advisory, capital markets and finance, with an extensive track record in natural resources. Stephen serves as a Senior Advisor to the global investment bank, Evercore. He is a former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International. Within natural resources and metal and mining, Stephen has worked on numerous strategic reviews, fundraising campaigns, board assignments, mergers and acquisitions, corporate takeovers and equity and debt capital markets transactions.
Stephen is a Professor in Practice in Finance at Durham University Business School. Stephen is a Non-Executive Director of European Metal Recycling, a global leader in sustainable materials and Verso Biosense, a European healthcare company.
Stephen is a graduate of the INSEAD International Directors Programme, a Trustee of the London Library and a Freeman of the City of London.
Maha Daoudi has over 20 years’ international experience in the commodities and energy transition industries, across the entire value chain. She has held Board and Senior level positions at several large organizations, including Trafigura, one of the largest international trading houses, where she was Global Head of Copper Concentrates Trading and a member of the Metals & Minerals management committee. She has also held various management roles with Managem, a large Moroccan mining conglomerate, and set up and managed their Swiss trading arm.
Maha has been the architect of significant offtake agreements and has been involved in large projects developments in mining, smelting and warehousing in China, Latin America, Europe and Africa. She has an extensive network in the commodities industry and a proven ability to strike up international strategic alliances.
She currently holds several Advisory and Board membership mandates where she advises hand-picked companies in the commodities, energy transition, finance and tech industries on business strategy, risk management, marketing, operations and expansion plans.
She has a Master’s degree in International Business and Strategic Management from Toulouse Business School, a Master’s degree in Design from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, as well as an Executive Management degree in Leadership and Strategic Development from ESSEC Paris. She speaks Arabic, English and French. She holds Moroccan and French nationalities and currently resides in Switzerland.
Furthermore, Maha Daoudi also dedicates her time to various social impact initiatives helping women succeed professionally and financially.
Adam Strauss is a practising lawyer with extensive experience in corporate transactions, having previously spent over 20 years practising law at Herbert Smith Freehills, a leading global law firm. He was a partner in the Corporate M&A practice of Herbert Smith Freehills for over 10 years and has worked extensively in the mining sector and has advised on mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, offtake agreements, demergers, capital raisings, restructurings, and corporate governance. His experience includes both local (Australia) and international or cross-border transactions. After Herbert Smith Freehills, Adam served as Acting Head of Legal (M&A) for BHP Limited.
Adam is currenly the principal of a boutique commercial law firm and is based in Sydney, Australia.
Adam holds a Bachelor of Science and a Bacherlor of Laws (First Class Honours) degrees, and is admitted to practice law in New South Wales, Australia.
