Governance

Board of Directors

Charles Borg had a 34-year career at Malta’s Bank of Valletta where he also served as Chief Executive between 2011 and 2015. He is currently chief executive and director of a Maltese group of companies with interests in the banking, retail and property sector. He is also a non-executive director at BNF Bank plc (formerly Banif Bank (Malta) plc) where he also chairs the Credit Approvals Committee.

Melo Hili joined the family business in 1988 and was appointed managing director of Motherwell Bridge, then a joint venture with Motherwell Bridge Group of Scotland. He later also headed the company’s Italian operation and was a board member of Motherwell Bridge Bhicam in the Bahamas. Mr Hili was named Developmental Licencee for McDonald’s in Malta in 2005, for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2007, for Greece in 2011, and for Romania in 2016. He is chairman of Premier Capital and chief executive officer of Hili Ventures.

Geoffrey Camilleri is a Certified Public Accountant. After obtaining an Honours degree in Accountancy from the University of Malta in 2002, he joined the Assurance and Business Advisory division of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Malta. He then moved into industry and occupied governance and finance roles in Malta’s Middlesea Insurance Group, and later Gasan Group. He joined Hili Ventures Ltd in 2014 and was appointed Chief Financial Officer in January 2016. Geoffrey is also Director of Hili Properties, Hili Finance Company, Motherwell Bridge Industries, Hili Logistics, ALLcom, and Chairman of Cobalt Leasing.

Therese Camilleri joined Hili Ventures as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions in April 2019 from PwC London where she was Director in the Transaction Services Sales and Purchase Agreement Team since 2015. She was previously Senior Manager TS Financial Due Diligence at PwC London, and earlier Manager at PwC Audit Malta. She is responsible for drawing up acquisition readiness assessments, executing acquisition strategies and due diligence, and assuming operational and strategic responsibility and project management throughout the deal process. She is also responsible for the management of divestments and sits on the board of 1923 Investments.

Karl Fritz has occupied key roles within the McDonald’s system around Europe since 1992. He has served as Chief Financial Officer for McDonald’s Central and Eastern Europe, Managing Director in Ukraine, Vice-President Southeast Europe with responsibility for eight countries, Project Leader for diversification and exit in Chicago and Switzerland, Managing Director in Italy, and Vice-President Chief Supply Chain Officer for McDonald’s Europe. After obtaining an MBA in Finance and International Tax from the Economic University in Vienna in 1985, he joined ITT Austria AG as internal auditor. He was later financial analyst at ITT Courier in Phoenix, Arizona, international controller at Alcatel Austria AG, and international controller at Austria-listed mining company VMAG. Mr Fritz is currently a franchisee with McDonald’s in Switzerland in the Canton of Zug.

Austin Gatt graduated as a lawyer from the University of Malta in 1975 and became a partner in Malta’s oldest law firm founded by his father, also a lawyer. Dr Gatt was Secretary General of Malta’s Nationalist Party between 1987 and 1997, a Member of Parliament and Minister between 1998 and 2013, holding various portfolios including Justice, Investments, Industry, IT, Communications, Energy and Transport. Dr Gatt is Chairman of 1923 Investments’ logistics group Hili Logistics.

Executive Team

Keith Busuttil joined 1923 Investments in May 2020. Based in Malta, he is responsible for the company’s success in achieving its commercial and investment objectives. Keith also manages shareholder relations and supports the senior executives of the subsidiaries across the 1923 Investments group. He joined the company from Oceanwood Capital Management of London where he was Portfolio Manager – European Event Driven Fund since 2014. He was previously Partner (European Equity Absolute Return Fund) at Dalton Strategic Partnership, Vice-President, European Debt Restructuring at Blackstone Advisory Partners, part of the Blackstone Group, and a senior analyst within the Investment Banking Division at Credit Suisse in London. Keith holds a Master’s in Corporate Finance from SDA Bocconi Business School and is ACCA-qualified.

Rudolph Mifsud Saydon joined Harvest in 2016 after a long career across a range of service lines at Ernst & Young in Malta.

He led various external audits in Malta and overseas and headed the Transaction Support Services Department, supporting clients in financial due diligence, business plans, government bid proposals, investigations, feasibility studies and regulatory compliance.

Mr Mifsud Saydon has been involved in several risk management assignments and drafted numerous national strategies for online gaming, financial services, ICT and media strategy, and the Eco-Gozo project.

Michèle Dandria joined 1923 Investments in 2019 from GO plc, where she was Content and Digital Media Manager. She is based in Malta and is responsible for the promotion of the 1923 Investments brand, as well as overseeing the overall marketing function, and assisting the subsidiary companies with the development and implementation of their plans. Michèle was also appointed chief operations officer of logistics company Carmelo Caruana Company in January 2020. Michèle holds years of experience in marketing and product and business development in telecoms and media.

Company Secretary

Melanie Miceli Demajo graduated Doctor of Laws from the University of Malta in 2002 and was admitted to the bar in 2003. She has a Master’s in Law specialising in Commercial and Corporate Law from University College London and a Master of Arts in Financial Services from the University of Malta. Dr Miceli Demajo has been a Partner at Maltese law firm Gonzi & Associates since 2012. She was previously Group Legal Advisor at M. Demajo Group, a multi-disciplinary group of companies.

Audit Committee

Austin Gatt   Karl Fritz   Geoffrey Camilleri