Key takeaways
- EXA Infrastructure has named Adeel Ahmad as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), responsible for financial planning, accounting, tax and treasury
- Mr Ahmad joins from ADVANZ PHARMA, where he was CFO and played a lead role in its $2.1 billion sale in 2021
- EXA Infrastructure was formed last September after its network and data centre assets were acquired by I Squared Capital
- The company serves customers across 103,000 route kilometres of fibre network connecting 300 cities
- Chief Executive Martijn Blanken says Mr Ahmad will play a pivotal part in the growth of the business
Adeel Ahmad appointed CFO
EXA Infrastructure, the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, today named Adeel Ahmad as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), responsible for financial planning, accounting, tax and treasury as the business sets its sights on further growth and investment.
Mr Ahmad joins EXA Infrastructure from ADVANZ PHARMA, a specialist pharmaceutical company committed to improving the lives of patients by enhancing critical medicines, where he also served as CFO. He was instrumental in setting the strategic direction for ADVANZ, streamlining the business and playing a lead role in its $2.1 billion sale in 2021.
EXA Infrastructure was formed last September after its Europe-wide, sub-sea and North American network infrastructure and data centre assets were acquired by I Squared Capital, enabling the business to focus on meeting rising customer demand for core services. The company now serves customers across 103,000 route kilometres of fibre network that connects 300 cities.
Career background
Mr Ahmad, who is based at EXA’s London headquarters, has a long track record of financial leadership success in technology and telecoms businesses. Prior to ADVANZ, he was the CFO of the Indian operations of Ingram Micro Mobility, formerly BrightPoint, based in India. He previously held several senior finance roles at Nortel Networks over the course of a decade, based in Canada and South Korea.
| Role | Organisation |
|---|---|
| CFO | ADVANZ PHARMA |
| CFO of the Indian operations | Ingram Micro Mobility, formerly BrightPoint |
| Senior finance roles over a decade | Nortel Networks, based in Canada and South Korea |
Comment from Martijn Blanken
“Adeel’s experience and qualities are ideal for leading our financial function as we pursue our growth strategy and maintain a sharp focus on delivering the infrastructure services that our customers need,” said Martijn Blanken, Chief Executive Officer of EXA Infrastructure. “As we invest in new routes and technologies, and increase the quality and sophistication of our customer service capabilities, he will play a pivotal part in the growth of our business as we continue to build out our leadership team.”
Education and qualifications
Mr Ahmad holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He also holds a Canadian Chartered Accountancy designation.
Comment from Adeel Ahmad
“EXA is a young company with such strong potential, given the market demand for core infrastructure services and the willingness of the business to invest in the network. We have an assertive growth strategy, an expert team and network assets that set us apart,” said Adeel Ahmad.
About EXA Infrastructure
Headquartered in London, UK, EXA is the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, supporting 1,500 customers across 103,000 kilometres of fibre network that connects 300 cities. The network features more than 500 Points of Presence (POPs), spanning 31 countries, 14 Tier 3-equivalent data centres and 300 co-location facilities, as well as three wholly-owned transatlantic subsea cables including the lowest latency route between Europe and North America. EXA is wholly-owned by I Squared Capital. For more see exainfra.net
