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Our Team

Andrew Kefford

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Andrew Kefford

Founding Partner

Andrew established the RIAdvisory Asia Pacific & MENA business in 1998 and now works closely with the team which operates across this broad and diverse region.

Andrew’s experience is long and deep within the communications sector in Asia, having initially moved from London to join the leading advertising agency (Ogilvy and Mather) and then a founding partner of the regional creative agency (The Ball Partnership which was acquired by Havas). While working across many of the Asian markets, he resided in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand before make Singapore his home.

Andrew stepped away from corporate life in 1992, establishing a Search and Recruitment Marcoms specialist (Advertising Advisory Centre), which became the sector leader in Southeast Asia. Following successful cooperation with RIAdvisory, as the firm developed its international services, he joined to ensure the successful implementation of RIAdvisory’s services across the region.

Andrew has advised a significant number of entrepreneurs in the region who have successfully sold their companies as well as many buyers, as they have expanded across the markets over the past 25 years, making full use of the extensive knowledge and relationships he has built throughout the region.

Outside of work (and despite decades of business travel), Andrew remains an ardent traveller, seeking out new places and experiences, dining and craft beer at every opportunity.

Recent Transactions
  • MediaDonuts acquisition by Entravision
  • VietBuzzAd acquisition by ADK
  • Redder Asia acquisition by Dentsu
  • Novus Media acquisition by Dentsu
  • Band acquisition by Dentsu

Chris Beaumont

Regional Managing Partner

Chris began his professional life as an academic, and for a decade was a Professor at London Business School. Chris has also worked for several global management consultancy strategy boutiques in both Europe and North America.

His route into marcoms was to create a joint venture with CDP while at Coopers & Lybrand, for the purpose of new business. He was so intrigued by CDP that he became their Business Development Director. He was then curious about Japan after Dentsu bought CDP. For 10 years Chris was with McCann-Erickson in Asia; he was both Vice-Chairman of their operations in Tokyo and Chief Strategy Officer for Asia. One of his roles was McCann WorldGroup service development, beyond traditional advertising, across Asia. A transformation that was materialized by focused M&A. He was also the Asian representative on IBM’s global advisory for mobile.

Chris then spent some 6 years leading Grey Group Japan during which time they prospered and extended their specialist communications capabilities through the acquisition of Grey Healthcare, as well as also being responsible for Grey’s strategic development across Asia.

In October 2008, the University of Tokyo made Chris a visiting Professor in their Global Centre of Excellence to foster global best in class collaboration between business and academic initiatives. His work focuses on translational aspects of scientific invention to market innovation across technology; pharma; life-sciences; nano- and bio-technology.

Chris took the role as North Asia Director in 2008, joining the firm he had been their first client in Asia, working with Andrew, over a decade earlier. Since then, he has worked on both sell-side and buy-side mandates across the spectrum of marketing communications and technology spectrum. This includes initiating the first international, multi-country acquisition by a Chinese company.

Recent Transactions
  • CIC acquired by Kantar Media
  • People PR Consultancy acquired by Instinctif
  • Verawom acquired by Aegis Media
  • We Are Social acquired by Blue Focus
  • Alien Eye merging with Profero Japan
  • Profero acquired by Lowe & Partners
Chris Beaumont

Get in touch with Chris

+81 906 470 8216

Jamie Kefford

Director, South East Asia

Having grown up in Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore, Jamie spent his late teenage school and college years in the UK. After working there for five years in the Leisure industry, in 2006 he returned to Singapore to work on a research and database project in the RIAdvisory regional office. This turned into a permanent position before moving into project management work, and now looks after South East Asia for all transactions.

Jamie has acted as the client facing manager on numerous acquisitions assignments for listed and private clients in the marketing services and technology sectors and is excited to see the future developments in the market and new technology sectors.

Jamie used to take to the field for Wanderers Rugby Club, even with 32+ degree heat of Singapore afternoons, but with two young kids the weekends are taken over by family time, which he loves.

Recent Transactions
  • Persuasion Technologies by Incubeta
  • Kingdom Digital by Hakuhodo
  • MediaDonuts acquisition by Entravision
  • VietBuzzAd acquisition by ADK
  • Redder Asia acquisition by Dentsu
  • Novus Media acquisition by Dentsu
  • Band acquisition by Dentsu
Jamie Kefford

Get in touch with Jamie

+65 9764 9777

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Imad Kublawi

Get in touch with Imad

+44 77 7060 5025

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Imad Kublawi

Regional Partner, MENA

During his career of over 40 years, Imad has acquired a range of perspectives on the sector. He worked on the agency side for 27 years, first in Kuwait and then Athens and London. In 2002, after 17 years in London, Imad relocated to Beirut carrying on as Chief Operating Officer of JWT’s MENA network where he was involved in talent development and business growth, and driving excellence and efficiency strategically and operationally throughout the network.

He then formed IK Consult in London in 2005, to be the strategic advisors of choice to top management on all aspects of marketing and communications in the MENA region. Imad acted as advisor to a number of publicly listed companies as well as medium to large private enterprises.

IK Consult expanded to Dubai (where Imad lived for 14 years) and Doha with delivery capability across the entire region and has engaged blue chip companies in:

  • Strategic marketing consultancy including marketing department restructuring, developing marketing plans and roadmaps, and help in developing Corporate / Brand positioning and implementation plans with follow up efficiency measures.
  • Agency performance assessment and selection (managed over 70 pitches covering all aspects of marketing communications in MENA, London, Mumbai, Serbia and Montenegro)
  • Training and Organisational alignment, seminars and workshops
  • HR: Staff evaluation and development plans

Imad joined RIAdvisory in 2008 as Regional Partner for the MENA region and has since been regularly engaged in consultancy projects as well as a number of M&A mandates including the acquisition of Flip Media by Leo Burnett (Publicis Groupe) and AmeInfo by Mediaquest, and prepared a comprehensive management study on the digital space in MENA.

Imad graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1976 with a BBA.

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