Questex Appoints Francis Barker, Veteran Finance Executive, as CFO

NEWTON, Mass. -- Questex, a leading global business information and events company, today announced the appointment of Francis B. Barker, a veteran finance executive, as chief financial officer, responsible for leading the company's financial operations, human resources and enterprise technology.

Reporting to Kerry C. Gumas, Questex president and chief executive officer, Barker will be based in New York.

"Francis brings to Questex over two decades of experience as a chief financial officer, private equity investor and transaction leader," said Gumas. "His proven leadership experience and financial expertise across numerous relevant sectors will be pivotal in maintaining our commitment to drive innovation and financial returns for our customers, team members and stakeholders."

Barker's experience spans public and private companies in internet, media, professional information, cloud software, business services, education and telecommunications.

His previous corporate leadership positons include chief financial officer at Alta Colleges Inc., co-founder of Information Services Group and senior vice president for strategy & corporate development at Dex Media. He continues as a board member at Allazo Health.

Barker's investing roles have included managing director for media and information investments at The Carlyle Group; investing independently in early stage data and analytics companies and sourcing investment opportunities for family offices.

Barker began his career as an investment banker in the media and information sector at Morgan Stanley.

"I am excited to join the Questex team as it grows its global events and digital information products in its targeted vertical markets," said Barker. "Additional profitable growth will come from both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions and partnerships, such as the company's recently concluded acquisitions of ExL Events LLC and The AHC Ltd. In addition, Questex and its investment partner, Shamrock Capital Advisors, are investing substantially in technology capabilities that will enable even greater focus on customers' business development objectives and professional information needs."

Barker earned a master of business administration degree at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of arts degree at Amherst College in Massachusetts.