Brent Needham | Managing Director

Brent Needham Brent is the founder and Managing Director of Kennedy Needham. He has over thirty years experience in corporate advisory, merchant banking, international management consulting and corporate doctor fields.

Brent has completed numerous transactions globally including acquisitions, divestments, MBOs and corporate consolidation work for organisations such as Telstra, Commonwealth/Colonial Bank, Myer, Envirozel, Mattel, IOOF, Blentech and NH Architecture.

His career has included managing major national and international assignments for Andersen Consulting and the Elders Finance Group. Brent was an advisor to a major Federal Royal Commission and was CEO of State Trustees and the St Kilda Football Club.

Rod Coleman | Director

Rod Coleman Rod is Director of Kennedy Needham and has 13 years of experience commercialising technology and undertaking transactions globally.

Before joining Kennedy Needham, Rod worked with Syngenta AG, the world’s largest agribusiness, in Basel Switzerland. In this role he undertook transactions in the biofuels industry and led the start-up of new businesses globally. Prior to Syngenta, Rod headed marketing and product management for a Swiss-based firm which developed investment management software, and was involved in its successful sale to Bloomberg Inc. Before moving to Europe, Rod worked with a consulting firm in Sydney and NAB in Melbourne.

Rod holds a Bachelor of Commerce, the Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment (FINSIA), and earned an MBA from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Paul Hill | Director

Paul Hill Paul is a Director of Kennedy Needham and has 20 plus years experience managing large consumer goods companies at the CEO level in Australia and Asia.

He has worked for Black and Decker, GE Thomson, Mattel and HWI (Breville/Kambrook). During his time at HWI Paul undertook capital raising, divestment and acquisition transactions. Paul has most recently worked in China for five years setting up joint ventures and running large manufacturing operations for brands such as Colgate, Bissell, Westinghouse and DE-Walt.

At Kennedy Needham Paul is leading divestment and capital raising mandates throughout Australia on behalf of firms in the facilities management, engineering services, chemical, forestry, and infrastructure industries.

Paul has an honours degree in Economics from the Australian National University.