Victoria promotes Roberto Moreno to group strategy chief

Flooring specialist Victoria announced the appointment of Roberto Moreno as its new group chief strategy officer and principal duty manager on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said that with a background spanning 16 years in banking, investments, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate value creation across industries in the US and Europe, Moreno would bring extensive expertise to his new role.

During the last three years, Moreno had spearheaded Victoria's growth through acquisitions in North America, resulting in the company achieving over $350m in distribution revenue across flooring categories in the region.

Before joining Victoria, Moreno served as a managing director at Sandton Capital Partners, a global private equity firm specialising in special situations across the UK, Europe, and North America.

At Sandton, he played a pivotal role in establishing and managing the firm's presence in Spain, overseeing successful investments and delivering exceptional returns.

Notably, Moreno served as executive chairman at Neoelectra, a prominent Spain-based power producer, where he orchestrated substantial profit growth and quadrupled the enterprise value through organic strategies and targeted acquisitions across Europe and Latin America.

Following that, he assumed the role of chief investment officer at EL Rothschild, a family investment company with diverse holdings across multiple sectors.

Moreno started his career as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank's New York office, holding an economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania, with proficiency in English and Spanish.

Along with his appointment, Victoria said it had established a new long-term incentive plan for Moreno, comprising two components.

The first component consists of a fair market value option for 1,067,481 ordinary shares with an exercise price of 233.5p each, while the second component entails a par value option for 720,000 shares with an exercise price of 5p apiece.

Victoria said the options would vest equally on a quarterly basis from March 2024 to September 2026, contingent on Moreno's continued employment with the group.

The fair market value option would be exercisable until the 10th anniversary of the grant date, while the par value option could be exercised until 31 December 2027.

“Roberto's extensive experience and proven track record in driving strategic growth and delivering results make him an invaluable addition to Victoria's senior management team,” said chairman Geoff Wilding.

“His leadership and expertise will play a crucial role in advancing our strategic initiatives and operational excellence projects - further solidifying our position as a leader in the global flooring industry.

“We are excited to welcome Roberto to his new role and look forward to the impactful contributions he will undoubtedly make.”

At 1253 GMT, shares in Victoria were down 0.41% at 244p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.