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Mr. Ferran has extensive experience as Chairman, CEO, President and Board-level advisor with both private and publicly traded corporations, and currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Noblemen Group.
Previously, David served as a division President for Mattson Technology (NASDAQ: MTSN), a publicly traded semiconductor equipment manufacturing company. David was brought on to manage the integration of two wet surface preparation businesses that were purchased by Mattson. He was instrumental in restructuring and overhauling operations, developed both financial and strategic plans for the new division, lead the executives to work as an effective team, turned around a previous crisis in customer satisfaction, and led the integration of the various corporate cultures.
While at Mattson, Mr. Ferran presided over the culmination of a 5-year legal battle with a major Japanese competitor. After a successful completion of the trial, Mr. Ferran led the negotiation that resulted in a settlement to be paid to Mattson by their competitor of between $70 and $100 million.
Earlier, Mr. Ferran completed a three-year turnaround of publicly traded SubMicron Systems Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductor processing equipment that was losing cash, people, and key customers. David was recruited by the Board of Directors as Chairman and CEO to replace the founder. In this capacity, he overhauled the existing product line and manufacturing processes, restored customer confidence, and significantly reduced operating expenses and head-count, while attracting and retaining key talent. In the end, Mr. Ferran developed and executed a strategy of the divestiture for the subsidiaries and several product lines, as well as re-focused the company on its core technology. During his 3 years at SubMicron, David raised 3 rounds of capital and restructured the company's debt. The company's financial restructuring and renaming led the company to emerge as Akrion, a successful global competitor.
Previously, Mr. Ferran was co-founder and President of Vacuum General Corporation, a manufacturer of pressure measurement and control instrumentation. He grew the Company from its inception to over $150 million in sales, through internal product development and a series of acquisitions.
In 1989, Vacuum General acquired then public Tylan Corporation. The integration of these two companies created Tylan General, a highly successful combined company. As CEO of Tylan General, David arranged a series of private financings, and managed Tylan General's IPO and secondary public offering. He later defended the company against a proposed hostile takeover, and finally closed its ultimate sale to Millipore (NASDAQ: MIL) for $165 million in cash.
Mr. Ferran holds a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire.
Mr. Ferran is an active participant and investor in The Hunger Project (www.thp.org), a strategic organization and global movement committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. In his spare time David loves to visit tropical islands and hang out on white sand beaches. He is a terrible, but enthusiastic golfer and can still ski the moguls with the young kids. | 