Our management and supervisory boards

Ismael is an experienced international leader with a strong track record in complex, regulated industries, combining strong operational leadership with financial discipline, transformation expertise and a consistent focus on value creation in multinational environments.

Before joining BME, Ismael was President EMEA at Archer Daniels Midland. His prior career spans CEO- and Board-level responsibilities across operations, strategy, finance, transformation, and M&A, at Monbake, Gruma and General Motors.

Lucas is an experienced finance leader with a strong track record in dynamic commercial and corporate environments. He has a broad background in the area of controlling, financial planning, accounting & reporting, performance management, restructuring and M&A.

His prior experience included roles at CH Robinson Europe, FrieslandCampina and Sara Lee (now JDE Peet’s).

Jean-Jacques Lafont is the chairperson of the Supervisory Board and has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 31 October 2019. Mr. Lafont is an experienced CEO and public company board member with a background in buy-and-build and international leadership of automotive, and building materials distribution companies.

He is currently serving on the board of Genuine Parts Company, a Fortune 250 distributor of automotive and industrial aftermarket parts. From 1990 until 2019, Mr. Lafont was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Automotive Group, a leading European distributor of passenger and commercial vehicle parts to the independent automotive aftermarket.

Lionel Yves Assant has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 31 October 2019. Mr. Assant is the European Head of Private Equity for The Blackstone Group and is based in London, United Kingdom.

He is also a member of the Investment Committee for the Tactical Opportunities and Blackstone Growth Equity (BXG) funds. Mr. Assant serves as a director of Cerdia Produktions GmbH, Clarion Events Ltd., Schenck Process GmbH, CIRSA group, the National Exhibition Centre Group, the Company and Bourne Leisure Holdings Ltd. He served on the boards of Gerresheimer AG, the Klöckner Pentaplast group, MIVISA, the United Biscuits group, Alliance Automotive Group, the Tangerine Group, Intertrust N.V. and Armacell International S.A. Since joining The Blackstone Group in 2003, Mr. Assant has been involved in various European investments and investment opportunities.

Before joining The Blackstone Group, Mr. Assant was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, where he worked for seven years in the Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management and Private Equity divisions. He is also involved with Impetus, a charitable foundation which provides resources to improve the lives of children and young people living in poverty. Mr. Assant graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique with a master’s degree in Economics.

Jad El Ajaltouni has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 13 March 2024.

He currently also serves on the board of directors of Desotec and on the advisory board of Huws Gray, a builders merchants chain based in the United Kingdom. Mr. El Ajaltouni is a Principal in the Private Equity Group of Blackstone and is based in London, United Kingdom. Since joining Blackstone in 2015, he has focused on investments in the Energy Transition and Building Materials sectors and has been involved with Blackstone’s investments in Desotec, Huws Gray, Building Materials Europe, and Siccar Point Energy.

Before joining Blackstone, Mr. El Ajaltouni worked in the M&A and Restructuring groups at Lazard in New York. Mr. El Ajaltouni graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University with a bachelor of arts in Economics and secondary field in Mathematics.

K.C. Dolan has been a member of the Supervisory Board since December, 2025.

K.C. Dolan is a Managing Director on the Blackstone Operating Team. He is the lead Operating Executive in Europe for Tactical Opportunities.

Before joining Blackstone in 2023, Mr. Dolan worked at Lycamobile, the world’s largest Mobile Virtual Network Operator, where he was the Chief Development Officer. Prior to Lycamobile, he spent 15 years at Liberty Global, a leader in converged broadband, video and mobile communications services. At Liberty, he held various senior roles in Investor Relations, Financial Planning & Analysis, Strategy & Development, Business Integration as well as serving as the Deputy CFO of Liberty Latin America and the CFO of UPC Central & Eastern Europe.

Prior to his operational experience, he worked in the investment banking divisions of JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Mr. Dolan received a BS in Finance from Villanova University. He currently serves as a director of Recognition Music Group, a portfolio company in the Tactical Opportunities Fund.

Franck Baduel is Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Automotive Group, a leading European distributor of automotive parts, with sales of over €3.6 billion, 15,000 employees and more than 2,500 points of sale across nine countries.

With over 20 years at Alliance Automotive Group, including senior leadership roles in France and across Europe, Mr. Baduel brings extensive experience in driving business development and expanding market presence across Europe, supported by his earlier experience in finance.