Cathal Friel | Co-Founder, NED and Largest Shareholder
Cathal Friel is a seasoned serial entrepreneur with a long‐running and successful history in business. Cathal is Managing Director of Raglan Capital and serves as Chairman and co‐founder of Poolbeg Pharma plc. Poolbeg was established as a spin-off from hVIVO plc (formerly Open Orphan plc), another company that Cathal co-founded and where he currently serves as Chairman.
Cathal also co‐founded Amryt Pharma plc which IPO’d on the London Stock Exchange in 2016 and was successfully sold to Chiesi Farmaceutici for $1.48bn in April 2023. Prior to that, he was co‐founder and Chairman of Fastnet Oil & Gas plc, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2011.
Cathal began his working career a little earlier than most by having to step in to help run the family business in 1981 at the relatively young age of 16 due to a family illness. He went on to complete his education by taking night classes and received an MBA from the University of Ulster in 1990. Cathal then spent the following five years lecturing on a part‐time basis on International Marketing and Business Planning at the University of Ulster whilst in tandem running his own technology services business. In 2001, Cathal was part of the team that successfully established Merrion Stockbrokers in Dublin. Following Merrion’s successful trade sale in 2006, he founded Raglan Capital which is renowned for building in‐house companies that are quickly listed on the public stock markets and are scaled rapidly post‐IPO generally via M&A transactions. Cathal was a finalist in the international category of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2020.
Aiden Lavelle | CEO
Aiden, an economic geologist with 16 years’ industry experience, served as Exploration Manager and later COO at Zinnwald Lithium Plc (formerly Erris Resources Plc) which he took through IPO and RTO. He boasts expertise in gold and base metals, notably contributing to the discovery of Djibouti’s Pandora prospect and a new epithermal gold district. A strategic alliance with Centerra Gold in Sweden marked his tenure with Erris Resources from 2016-2019. Prior to becoming European Green Transition CEO, Aiden played a pivotal role as lead geological consultant resulting in a much-improved understanding of the REE mineralisation at Olserum and substantial target growth.
As CEO Aiden will be reviewing many new opportunities for acquisition with a particular focus on the technical due diligence.
Jack Kelly | CFO
Jack Kelly is an experienced financial professional with a depth of experience completing M&A transactions across a range of sectors. Prior to joining European Green Transition, Jack worked across Raglan Capital’s portfolio of companies supporting M&A, transaction, licensing and investor relations activities.
Jack has also worked in PwC Ireland’s Corporate Finance team supporting Irish and international businesses on a range of M&A related activities. Jack has a Business and Economics degree from Trinity College Dublin and is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland.
Jack brings expertise in M&A to the executive team with a focus on structuring deals and carrying out financial and legal due diligence of new opportunities.
Daniel Akselson | Non-Executive Chairman
Daniel has over 30 years of experience in international real estate and has held pivotal roles as CFO and CEO for multiple European real estate companies. His expertise extends beyond real estate, as he has been actively engaged in Swedish mining projects through his position at European Minerals Exploration AB, where he managed various licences in Sweden. Notably, he served as the CEO of International Real Estate Ltd from 2001 to 2015, initially listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) until 2005, later transitioning to AIM, and eventually becoming a private entity in 2009. His professional repertoire also includes the operation of a consultancy company, specializing in the real estate industry, as a consultant and board member and advisor.
James Leahy | Non-Executive Director
Beginning his career at the London Metal Exchange, James has spent the subsequent 34 years involved in stockbroking and commodities in a variety of roles, including research analyst, equity salesman and specialist corporate broker, which covered mining finance, origination and distribution. He has worked on a wide range of projects worldwide, ranging from industrial minerals, coal, iron ore, precious metals, copper, diamonds, lithium, uranium, plantations, forestry and palm oil. Lately, he has employed his corporate governance skills, having gained substantial experience as an independent director on the boards of several quoted and unquoted companies.
In addition, Mr Leahy has direct experience in capital markets, having worked at James Capel, Credit Lyonnais, Nedbank, Canaccord and Mirabaud, where he gained invaluable experience with international institutional fund managers, hedge funds, private equity and sector specialist investors. Additionally, Mr Leahy has been involved in many IPOs, as well as primary and secondary placings, and the development of junior mining companies through to production.
He is currently a director of the listed fund Geiger Counter Ltd, Savannah Resources Plc and Capital Metals Plc.
Project Team
Developing a new strategy for European Green Transition
The geological team, led by Aiden Lavelle and Kevin Dalton, with a cumulative 30 years in exploration, is utilising its technical skills and in-country experience to identify and develop projects.
