Bain & Company Growth Expert and Best Selling Author, Chris Zook Relocates to Amsterdam; Sees Europe as Natural Epicenter for Delivering Worldwide Growth Strategies

Business Wire, Jan 30, 2006

NEW YORK -- Bain & Company, the global business consulting firm today announced that the leader of its Global Strategy Practice and growth expert, Chris Zook, will relocate his base of operations to the firm's Amsterdam office. Zook, ranked by Consulting Magazine as one of the world's "Top 25 Consultants" in its annual 2005 survey, will make the Dutch capital his pan-European base as he continues to help Bain clients around the globe uncover new sources of profitable growth.

"Relocating a top Bain & Company strategist is just one of the many ways we are investing to expand our European capabilities to assist clients in one of the most rapidly changing economic geographies," said Steve Ellis, Bain's worldwide managing director. "Our multinational clients increasingly wrestle with the need to drive growth across worldwide platforms, and Bain's expertise in growth strategies, led by Chris Zook, has helped many companies outperform their competition."

During his 20 years at Bain, Zook's focus has been helping Bain's clients solve growth dilemmas in an environment where the average holding period of stocks has declined by 700% since 1960, and repositioning their core businesses to transform operations and processes to maximize profits.

His work across a wide range of industries, led to his best-selling business book, Profit from the Core: Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence (HBS Press, 2001) which built on the analysis of thousands of companies to provide a blueprint for finding new sources of growth from inside a core business. His sequel Beyond the Core: Expand your Market without Abandoning your Roots (HBS Press, 2004) outlines how companies can systematically expand beyond their core businesses into related or "adjacent" areas using distinctive, repeatable formulas for success. His findings are being implemented by many successful companies and he is now working on a third book on growth, due out in spring 2007.

"CEOs today recognize there's a deepening growth crisis with 70% of executives in a recent Bain survey believing it will be more and more difficult to sustain profitable growth over the next five years," said Zook. "European companies face that future, burdened with high debt levels that make their growth challenge even more acute."

In addition to his Core series, Mr. Zook has written extensively in the business press, is a frequent guest on television and radio and has spoken at many esteemed business forums. He received a B.A. from Williams College, a M.Phil. in Economics from Exeter College, Oxford University, and holds Masters and PhD. degrees from Harvard University.

Editor's Note: To arrange an interview or obtain a photograph please contact Cheryl Krauss at 1 646-562-7863 or cheryl.krauss@bain.com.

About Bain & Company, Inc.

Bain & Company, a leading global business consulting firm, serves clients on issues of strategy, operations, technology, organization and mergers and acquisitions. The firm was founded in 1973 on the principle that Bain consultants must measure their success by their clients' financial results, Bain clients have out performed the stock market 4 to 1. With offices in all major cities, Bain has worked with over 2,700 major multinational, private equity and other corporations across every economic sector. For more information visit: www.bain.com.