Julian Cornelissen

Julian Cornelissen combines over 20 years of operational leadership experience in commercial C-level mandates with legal and tax expertise. As a trained lawyer and tax advisor who began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he advises and leads companies in challenging situations involving transformation, restructuring, and international growth. His profile merges legal-tax structuring competence with direct commercial leadership responsibility – from management to overseeing complex consolidated financial statements to transaction-accompanying due diligence.

Julian Cornelissen is co-founder of horizon-re GmbH and supports companies particularly in the areas of interim CFO/CRO mandates, commercial restructuring, group structuring as well as compliance and governance development. He works across industries and has successfully completed mandates in company sizes ranging from 20 million to 4 billion euros in total assets.

Studies / Career

Philipps University Marburg, University of Cologne, LG Aachen

Wirtz & Walter Schmitz (Lawyer), PricewaterhouseCoopers / PwC (Lawyer & Tax Advisor), British Car Auction LLP – CFO DACH & Benelux (Authorized Signatory), HUK Coburg Autowelt & Autoservice (Managing Director), horizon-re – Co-founder and Partner

Interim Mandates (Selection)

• Interim CFO / Commercial Managing Director – Automotive Retailer (Insurance Group)
• Project-leading Partner – E-Commerce / Internationalization
• CFO / CRO – Transaction Support for UK-listed Group
• Project-leading Partner – Group Structuring Real Estate (Wholesale)
• CFO / Authorized Signatory – Medical Technology / Diagnostics

Industry Focus

Automotive · Construction & Real Estate · Mechanical Engineering · Medical Technology · Healthcare · Logistics · E-Commerce

Selected Mandates

• CFO & Management – International Automotive Auction Platform (DACH)
  Assumed overall commercial management (executive management) for the DACH unit of a British publicly listed group with an annual turnover of approx. €1.5 billion and up to 54 employees. Responsible for reporting to the publicly listed parent company, building KPI systems (Balanced Scorecard), tax and legal departments as well as compliance structures (RMS, Tax-IKS) for the DACH region and Poland.
• Operating CFO & Commercial Managing Director – Automotive Retailer (Insurance Group)
  Commercial management of an automotive retailer owned by a German insurance group with 36 employees. Direct reporting line to the group executive board. Establishment of system-supported internal control system (Retail), introduction of group reporting, rebuilding compliance structures, and support of M&A transaction (acquisition of a vehicle service network by the group).
• CRO – Group Restructuring for German Subsidiaries of a UK-listed Group
  Chief Restructuring Officer during an ongoing group restructuring for the German subsidiaries of a British publicly listed company amid an international acquisition process. Management of all commercial and operational restructuring measures with reporting line to the group executive board.
• Project-leading Partner – Group Structuring Real Estate Division (Wholesale Group)
  Commercial project management of the group structuring of the real estate division of a German wholesale group with total assets of approx. €4 billion. Coordination of approx. 1,800 financial statements in tax law, commercial law (HGB), and IFRS with an interdisciplinary team of 26 employees and 14 freelancers.
  
• CFO & Authorized Signatory – Medium-sized Diagnostics Manufacturer (Turnaround)
  Commercial leadership responsibility at a medium-sized manufacturer of diagnostic products (80 employees) in an economic crisis situation. Establishment and restructuring of commercial structures as well as active defense against insolvency risks.
• Project-leading Partner – E-Commerce / Internationalization
  Insourcing of outsourced commercial services in e-commerce as well as support of cross-border restructurings and company formations in Europe for a Japanese group with 14 European subsidiaries.

M&A and Tax Due Diligence – International Mandates (PwC)

Tax & Legal Due Diligence as well as transaction-accompanying consulting for medium-sized and international clients at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Development of group-wide transfer pricing concepts (BEPS) for Japanese and British group companies as well as VAT-optimized group structuring.