Interview – John Colleemallay

Director of Treasury and Finance, Dassault Systems

“We went from a holding company treasury to a group treasury”

La Lettre du Trésorier

Isn’t your company, Dassault Systems, about to celebrate an anniversary?

John Colleemallay

Yes, its thirtieth anniversary is very soon. It was in 1981 that a few engineers from Dassault Aviation started a business that would become the worldwide standard in its area of expertise, that is, product life cycle management (PLM). Dassault Systems’ software allows one to imagine, to simulate and to experiment with products in three dimensions. Dassault Systems today employs almost 9,000 people in over 80 countries. The company, which had a turnover of €1.3bn in 2009 and boasts an operating margin of 25%, has seen very sustained growth, marked by numerous acquisitions, mainly in the United States and in Europe. At one stage, it became necessary to consolidate the group, and, in order to do that, to move towards a convergence of management methods. That is the task of the aptly-named One Company which was set up three years ago and which, specifically in the context of the treasury, aims to rationalise banking, to put in place shared service centres and to centralise risk. In short, this means going from a holding company treasury to a group treasury which can have a precise and reliable vision when it comes to the generation of cash.

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