Kleos Space hires McCarthy
November 4, 2021
By Chris Forrester
Padraig McCarthy has joined Kleos Space as a director. McCarthy is well-known to the satellite industry from his time as CFO/Finance Director at SES.
McCarthy is currently a Partner at the private equity firm NewSpace Capital and an independent Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair at listed self-storage company Shurgard. He brings more than two decades of Space industry experience to Kleos, previously serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Committee at global satellite leader SES, where he raised more than €5 billion to fund the company’s growth strategy.
McCarthy has an extensive investor relations and capital markets experience, playing a key role in the SES IPO, its Paris Euro-next secondary listing as well as other equity and debt activities. His industry experience also includes nine years as CFO and Management Committee member of SES Astra and other business and finance leadership positions within SES, whom he served for 23 years.
He will join the Kleos board as an independent director and head up the company’s Audit & Risk Management Committee.
Commenting on the appointment, Kleos Chairman, Peter Round said:“Padraig’s wealth of financial, Space industry and governance experience further enhances Kleos’ Board expertise and will be instrumental as we continue to commercialise our geolocation intelligence data. His appointment aligns with Kleos’ best practice governance and regulatory regimes and supports our longer-term transition towards a majority independent Board.”
McCarthy said: “I’m delighted to join Kleos at a pivotal point in the Company’s journey, as it transitions from its R&D beginnings into a commercial provider of radio frequency geolocation data. Kleos’ independent ISR technology has many real-world applications, improving situational awareness for both government and commercial customers. I look forward to leveraging my previous industry and professional experience to assist Kleos as it executes its growth strategy.”