LEADERSHIP

Mr. Moutasem Jassim Mohammed Al Wazzan serves as Director of Mezzan’s FMCG Division. He is responsible for encompassing Mezzan’s international pharmaceutical partners, including Johnson & Johnson and Reckitt Benckiser, in addition to the group’s medical department and pharmacies.

Under his leadership, the division experienced exceptional growth throughout the years. Mr. Al Wazzan is the creator of Mezzan’s Softy brand and pioneered the group’s entry into Jordan by establishing a state-of-the-art Softy production facility in Mafrek, Jordan. Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Al Wazzan held a role at the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, and previously served on the boards of Awal Gulf Manufacturing (Bahrain) from 2003 to 2008, National Textiles in 2008, and was Vice Chairman of AlMutajara Real Estate Company from 2007 to 2013.

Mr. Moutasem Jassim Mohammed Al Wazzan holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. During college, he managed a former Mezzan subsidiary that specialized in air-conditioning and fire-fighting equipment.

Mr. Mohammed Jassim Mohammed Al Wazzan serves as Vice Chairman of the Board and was responsible for driving strategic initiatives for the group pursuant to the company’s successful IPO in 2015, in addition to the role of leading the executive management team.

Prior to his role on the board, Mr. Al Wazzan was responsible for the group’s strategic entry into many areas and managed the company’s finances and IT department since 1985. He previously served on the boards of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait from 2000 to 2003, and the Commercial Real Estate Company from 2004 to 2009.

Mr. Mohammed Jassim Mohammed Al Wazzan holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami, USA.

Mr. Jamal Abdulhameed Al Mutawa serves as a Director at Mezzan Holding. He brings with him over 34 years of experience in the financial sector and banking, 16 of which he served in executive and leadership positions.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Al Mutawa held leading roles at the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, including General Manager and Acting Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2003, and CEO until his tenure in 2010. Mr. Al Mutawa previously served as Chairman of Kuwait Credit Bureau (CI-NET), National Ranges Company (Mayadeen) from 2009 to 2012, and Cham Bank from 2010 to 2011, and has served on the boards of VISA International CEMEA Region from 1995 to1996, and Al Ahlia Investments from 1997 to 1999.

Mr. Jamal Abdulhameed Al Mutawa holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California, USA.

Mr. Abdulwahab Al Marzouq serves as an Independent Director at Mezzan Holding. He has extensive board-level experience in manufacturing, construction, retail, real estate, advertising, and financial companies.

Throughout his 26-year career, Mr. Al Marzouq has built a track record of working in multi-million Kuwaiti dinar businesses and has previously served on the board of Kuwait’s Commercial Bank from 1997 to 2000. He continues to serve on several boards, including K4 General Trading & Contracting since 1989, British Industries since 1993, and Universe Investments since 2008.

Mr. Abdulwahab Al Marzouq holds a Bachelor of Public Administration from Point Park University Indiana, USA.

Mr. Mohammed Aslan Al-Matrouk serves as a Director at Mezzan Holding. He brings with him over 18 years of experience in civil and commercial litigation.

Mr. Al-Matrouk owns and practices law at Al-Matrouk Law Firm, is the Chairman of the Jadeite Group, the General Manager of ORO Realty Group, the General Manager of Akila Holdings, a custodian of Havana Exchange, a local arbitrator at the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and is the judicial liquidator of Grand Expo, a company that manages exhibitions and conferences.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Al-Matrouk was a business partner at Al-Saif & Al-Abduljader and the Chairman of the Kuwaiti Lawyers Association’s Human Rights and Economic Affairs Committees.

Mr. Mohammed Aslan Al-Matrouk holds a Bachelor Degree in Law from the Faculty of Law at Kuwait University (2004).

Mr. Jassim Mohammed Jassim Al Wazzan is a lawyer and a member of the Kuwait Lawyers Society. He also serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Mezzan Holding.

Mr. Jassim Al Wazzan graduated from Kuwait University with a Bachelor’s degree in Law. He is certified from the Kuwait Institute for Banking Studies in Credit Management since 2003 and is an Alumni of Harvard Business School in the United States since 2016.

Mr. Jassim’s experience is diverse and has held various leadership positions. He has worked in the fields of law, banking, and the food manufacturing and distribution sector. He is a former member of the Union of Food Traders and Manufacturers in Kuwait and a founder of Mezzan Holding Company’s operations in Saudi Arabia, focusing on logistics services and food manufacturing operations in the UAE. He has also served on the board of directors of several Kuwaiti closed-shareholding companies, and is an independent member of the Board of Directors of Kuwait International Bank.

Mr. Garrett Walsh was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Mezzan Holding in March 2011. He works with the board to drive strategic growth and has helped develop the group’s operations in Afghanistan, Jordan, and Iraq. Mr. Walsh played a significant role in acquiring Unitra Mets Group, and the turnaround of underperforming businesses, creating new structures, strengthening governance, and focusing on cash flow.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Walsh served as the Managing Director of Northern Foods Recipe Dish and a member of the Northern Foods PLC (UK) Ops Board. Northern Foods PLC is the UK’s largest food manufacturer, and Recipe Dish is the largest supplier of chilled ready-meals to retailers, including Marks & Spencer and J Sainsbury.

During his time at Northern Frozen Foods Inc., Mr. Walsh introduced programs including Lean Six Sigma and was responsible for the company’s leading brands, including Goodfella’s Pizza, McDougalls Pies, and Donegal Catch; which all became No. 1 in their respective categories during his tenure. He has also held previous leadership, commercial, and finance roles at Deloitte, DCC PLC, Unigate PLC, and Nestle.

Mr. Garrett Walsh holds a Diploma in Marketing from the Marketing Institute of Ireland and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Mr. Omar Samoud joined Mezzan Holding in 2023 and brings with him 32 years of industry experience in multinational companies, such as Nestlé, PwC, and Tetra Pak. 

Prior to  joining Mezzan, Mr. Samoud served as the CFO of Nestlé Waters in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where he managed the Finance & Control function for 9 markets and 17 factories with a turnover of $400 million. His previous roles include CFO positions at Nestlé Zone – AOA (Asia – Oceania – Africa), Nestlé – Hellas (Greece, Cyprus & Albania), and Nestlé – NEAR (Northeast Africa). 

Mr. Omar Samoud holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science (DEA Mathematics, Computer Science, Decision, and Organization) from University of Paris IX Dauphine in France, and a Master’s Degree in Finance & Accounting from HEC France. He is a French Chartered Accountant, and holds a PED (Program Executive Development) Diploma from IMD Switzerland.

Mr. Ali Al Wazzan serves as the current Executive Director of Investments at Mezzan Holding. He is responsible for acquisitions, disposals, the IPO program, and working with the CEO on strategic change initiatives.

Mr. Al Wazzan represents Mezzan Holding on various boards and is the Vice Chairman of Kuwait Lube Oil Company, a Mezzan subsidiary, since 2010. He holds an important role in restructuring the group’s subsidiaries, including Mezzan’s water business in Qatar, and has led the acquisition of Unitra Mets Group and several prominent company transactions.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Al Wazzan worked for Wedian Real Estate/Amlak Holdings (Family Investment Office) and Al Watani Investment Company (NBK Capital). He also previously served as a non-executive Director of Global Investment House KSCC during its restructuring process from 2010 to 2013.

Mr. Ali Al Wazzan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Finance from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Mr. Lindsay Wakefield was appointed as the Group Commercial Director for Food & Beverages in February 2019. He brings with him over 12 years of experience across the region as one of Kantar Consulting Middle East’s founding partners.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Wakefield held a range of managerial roles in sales, strategy and development, commercial leadership, and customer management. He also held previous roles at Mars Confectionery, L’Oréal, Diageo, and Glendinning Management Consultants.

Mr. Lindsay Wakefield holds a Bachelor of Science in Managerial Sciences from the University of Bradford, UK.

Mr. Bassem Abou Zaki was appointed Group Head of Human Resources (HR) in November 2020. He has over 18 years of HR experience and expertise in developing HR plans and strategies to support the company’s overall business operation objectives.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Bassem was part of Nestlé Middle East & North Africa, where he led the facilitation and coaching of several Nestlé Markets in Zone EMENA on their HR transformation journey. This included the Middle East & North Africa, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine and Moldova, Poland and the Baltics, Czech and Slovak. He has previously served a variety of HR operational roles in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Bassem holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management (HRM) from the University of Surrey, UK.

Mr. Crew serves as the Group IT Director at Mezzan and is responsible for the delivery of the company’s IT strategy. He has extensive experience in broad business and technical experience, particularly in manufacturing and supply chain areas, and especially in the FMCG market.

Prior to joining Mezzan, Mr. Crew spent 25 years at Prince Limited in the United Kingdom, where he became Group IT Director. In this position he gained considerable experience in board-level influencing, driving business change, and encouraging best practices for major systems implementation, project management, and business process ownership. He has also led many cloud transformation projects that gained significant business benefits and has a unique insight into merger and acquisition projects, covering both due diligence and IT integration issues.

Mr. Neil Crew holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sunderland, UK.