Chris Mason, Finance Expert in San Francisco, CA, United States
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Chris Mason

Verified Expert  in Finance

Finance Expert

Location
San Francisco, CA, United States
Toptal Member Since
June 5, 2017

A Stanford MBA graduate, Chris has worked on private equity and M&A transactions worth $4B+ and $14B+ in value, respectively, including turnarounds, special situations, bankruptcies, capital raises, carve-outs, and roll-ups. As a freelancer, he enjoys helping clients across a wide spectrum of industries and situations. He has extensive experience working with consumer, industrial, energy and financial businesses.

Career Highlights

Senior Associate
Peak Rock Capital
Associate
CCMP Capital

Education Highlights

Master of Business Administration Degree
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Bachelor's Degree
Middlebury College

Case Studies

Work Experience

Senior Associate

2013 - 2015
Peak Rock Capital
  • Performed in-depth due diligence on dozens of companies, including commercial, financial, customer and supplier, tax as well as legal. Work included industry analysis, strategy reviews, and extensive 3-statement operating and financing modeling, including revenue builds, cash flow forecasts, and capital structure analyses.
  • Completed acquisition and turnaround of the largest honey company in the US (Natural American Foods) through pre-packaged chapter 11 restructuring process in 90 days. Served on board of directors.
  • Completed acquisition, carve-out, stand-up and reorganization of three steel businesses from Shale-Inland. Executed transformational 100-day plan alongside management team. Served on board of directors.
  • Built 10+ full operating models (3-statement, revenue build, LBO, debt financing) for businesses in a wide range of industries, including food & beverage, consumer products, retail, industrials, manufacturing, power & energy, healthcare, and financial services.
  • Served on fund's valuation committee and assisted in build-out of firm systems and processes, including sourcing and lead management, recruiting, and investor relations.
Focus areas: Leveraged Buyout Modeling, Due Diligence, Capital Raising, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Private Equity

Associate

2012 - 2013
CCMP Capital
  • Completed $1 billion leveraged buyout of Mold-Masters, a leading plastics company. Built detailed 3-statement operating model, managed due diligence and financing processes, and completed $810 million public debt offering.
  • Raised capital and sold proceeds for fund's two largest investments, including a $400 million equity capital raise, a $1 billion dividend debt recapitalization, and $600 million in secondary equity sales.
  • Worked alongside management on the integration of two of the largest plastics businesses in the US, realizing millions of dollars in cost and revenue synergies.
  • Completed multiple add-on acquisitions both domestically and internationally for consumer and industrial products businesses.
  • Managed class of eight analysts, including training, coaching, and recruitment. Taught financial modeling, valuation, industry analysis, and diligence techniques.
Focus areas: Leveraged Buyout Modeling, Capital Raising, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Private Equity

Financial Analyst

2010 - 2012
Lazard
  • Advised the Maple Group consortium on its $4 billion acquisition of TMX Group (owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange), including the acquisition of Alpha Trading Systems and CDS. Performed extensive valuation work on the acquired businesses.
  • Advised Ameriprise Financial on the sale of Securities America, an independent broker-dealer, to Ladenburg Thalmann for $150 million. Assisted in running full sales process, which included financial and strategic buyers. Conducted in-depth research on broker-dealer industry and performed valuation analysis of the business.
  • Completed a Fairness Opinion for the Special Committee of the Board of Delphi Financial, a property and casualty insurer, during its $3 billion sale to Tokio Marine.
  • Provided capital markets advisory services to Mitsubishi UFJ on the conversion into common shares of its $8 billion investment in Morgan Stanley.
  • Built dozens of financial models including operating models, merger models, DCFs, dividend discount models, and LBOs for a wide range of financial companies including banks, insurers, broker-dealers, investment managers, alternative asset managers, exchanges, investment banks, and securities firms.
Focus areas: Valuation, Capital Structuring, Capital Raising, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
2015 - 2017

Master of Business Administration Degree in General Management

Stanford Graduate School of Business - Palo Alto, California

2006 - 2010

Bachelor's Degree in Economics

Middlebury College - Middlebury, Vermont

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