Rene is Chairman and Partner at ArkMalibu. He has helped hundreds of companies think strategically and become more successful. Rene has been president and CEO of two public companies for a total of 10 years. Most recently, he served as the president and CEO of Layne Christensen (a NASDAQ company). Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of NS Group (NYSE), which he helped grow from a $150 million enterprise to a $1.5 billion company. As an investment banker for 15 years, he has worked on capital raising and strategic transactions involving many industrial and natural resource companies around the world.
As Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney based in New York, Rene held various corporate finance roles including co-head of global metals & mining practice, head of steel practice and head of paper & forest products practice. He was also a Principal in Corporate Finance at Morgan Stanley based in New York.
He is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Ottawa, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration. He also received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Rene has been married to Karen since 1984 and they have two adult children. Rene enjoys reading, travel, hockey, golf and is a PCA driving instructor.
