Harry Debney is an Operating Director at Paine Schwartz Partners.

Mr. Debney was the CEO of Costa Group from 2010 to 2021, where he was responsible for executing the company’s vision to become the largest and most successful Australian fresh produce business. Mr. Debney engaged with Paine Schwartz Partners (then Paine & Partners) to acquire a 50% stake in the company in 2011 to strengthen the balance sheet and fuel growth. During Mr. Debney’s tenure, Costa expanded overseas, establishing berry farming operations in Morocco and China, and solidified its leadership in its chosen categories of berries, mushrooms, citrus, glasshouse tomatoes and avocados. Mr. Debney led Costa’s move to becoming a publicly listed company with a successful IPO in July 2015. In March 2021, Mr. Debney retired and moved to a Board role until September 2022, when he was invited to assume the role of interim CEO until his retirement in February 2024. He worked with the Costa team to position the business for its next phase of growth under new ownership.

Prior to his role at Costa, Mr. Debney spent 24 years at Visy Industries, with the last eight years as CEO. In this role, Mr. Debney substantially grew the Visy business through acquisitions and organic growth and oversaw a progressive renewal of core manufacturing assets to ensure that Visy had the most advanced technology and lowest cost manufacturing base in the industry. He spent the first ten years of his career working for the Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers organization where he gained a detailed knowledge and understanding of fresh produce production and post-harvest distribution.

Mr. Debney serves on the boards of Kogan Group and Lite-n-Easy. He holds an Honours degree in Applied Science majoring in Horticulture from the University of Queensland. In 2001, he was awarded the University of Queensland Gatton Gold Medal for his work in advancing post-harvest technology and packaging for the horticultural industry. Mr. Debney was raised in Brisbane, Australia.

Note: Operating Directors are not employees or agents of Paine Schwartz Partners; they are independent third-party consultants retained by Paine Schwartz Partners on a periodic basis to provide services to the funds Paine Schwartz Partners advises or manages and/or such funds’ portfolio companies.