)
Ashok Leyland's chief financial officer Gopal Mahadevan has joined the board of its UK arm Optare as non-executive director. Hinduja Group's flagship company Ashok Leyland holds 75% stake in the bus and coach maker.
Optare also announced that Jorma Halonen has stepped down from the Board.
Mahadevan, 47, took over as the CFO of Ashok Leyland about six months back.
With over 25 years of experience in the finance vertical, Mahadevan started his career with the TTK Group. He then moved to Sanmar Group where he progressed to head Finance for their PVC business. He later joined Sify Limited to head Mergers and Acquisitions, Legal and Nasdaq Compliances, following which he joined Amara Raja Batteries as Group CFO. Prior to his appointment to Ashok Leyland, Mahadevan was CFO of engineering company Thermax Limited.
John Fickling, chairman, Optare Plc commented that Mahadevan's wealth of financial experience will be a great asset to the company.
