Jose Antonio Arean
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Mexico City, Mexico
Toptal member since April 16, 2017
Jose has directly executed valuations worth over $10 billion and founded Firmus—a firm offering advice in finance and economics. As a freelance, he provides his clients with robust and thorough analyses to help them achieve optimal decisions. In addition to working extensively with public companies in financial modeling and management, Jose has acted as an international expert witness in commercial disputes and as an outsourced CFO for startups.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Case Studies
Industry Expertise
Other Expertise
Work Experience
Business Consultant
Freelance
- Reviewed in-house valuation models for a home equity investment fund with operations in the US. Applied advanced valuation techniques such as the Monte Carlo simulation.
- Prepared a revenue forecast model for a private school operation in the Western US. The model included a Monte Carlo simulation module that evaluates market risk and the expected performance of the sale effort.
- Developed a financial model for an oil and gas services company. It was designed to forecast and follow up operations featuring a module for asset utilization that translates into three financial statements: P&L, balance sheet, and cash flows.
- Performed the valuation of a casting agency. The process involved a review of the company's business plan, sales forecast, operating cost analysis, financial projections, determination of discount rate, and valuation report of equity for the client.
- Handled the valuation of a restaurant operation in NYC, comprising a review of the company's business plan, sales forecast, operating cost analysis, financial projections, determination of discount rate, and valuation report of equity for the client.
- Prepared a business plan for a retail company in streetwear, including an executive summary, company overview, industry analysis, customer analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, operations plan, management team, and financial plan.
- Participated in an M&A team preparing a private equity placement for a ghost kitchen company with operations in Eastern and Central US. Handled the financial model for the transaction.
- Prepared an investor presentation for a hotel venture in San Antonio, TX. Handled the financial model and pitch deck for investors of a hotel operation under the La Quinta brand. The task involved market, financial, and feasibility analyses.
- Prepared a business plan for a casting agency's SaaS platform. The plan included market research, financial analyses for internal use, and presentations to investors.
- Worked as an external financial advisor to the company Century Linen. Supported the CEO in the preparation of monthly financial reports, as well as board presentations.
CEO
Firmus Consulting
- Served as an outsourced CFO and board member for a UK oil-and-gas startup in Latin America that achieved annual sales of up to $10 million; also participated in the winning bid preparation.
- Directed and supervised the valuation of nine sugar mills in Mexico worth $500 million that were later sold to the private sector. The effort involved six consulting companies and 60 professionals.
- Valued a premium $120 million land property in Baja, Mexico, for office and housing projects (1,200 acres).
- Managed the debt restructuring of a public facility worth $235 million and restructured the indentured contract regarding debt coverage ratios concerning dividend payments. CDPQ is a shareholder in the venture.
- Completed an expert witness report to support the reimbursement of $200 million in damages to an EPC contractor led by GE on a $1 billion hydroelectric project.
- Conducted an M&A valuation of an amusement water park acquired by Six Flags. Tariff structure was also developed based on an elasticity analysis I performed based on a supply-demand exercise.
- Evaluated the economic contribution of anglers to Los Cabos. The Billfish Foundation sponsored a study to estimate the benefits of sport fishing at Los Cabos. The study is now an international reference in the Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2010.
- Completed the valuation of seven high-end hotels operating under premium brands: Four Seasons, Rosewood, Banyan, and One & Only, among others.
- Determined optimal pricing strategies for construction projects, power generation, and cane sugar.
- Prepared a condition assessment for Costabaja's marina at La Paz in Baja. The job included bidding and hiring an engineering firm from California and overseeing the implementation of medium and long-term maintenance programs.
Financial Modeling Expert
Century Linen & Uniform, LLC
- Reviewed the company's accounts at the consolidated level and individually for each of the five business units for a period of six months.
- Prepared end-of-month reports on financial performance for the whole company and individually for each business unit for a period of six months.
- Analyzed KPIs for the consolidated company as well as for each of the five business units for a period of six months.
Financial Analyst and Director
Serficor
- Valued and restructured $600 million of debt held by a vertically integrated edible vegetable oils and shortenings company located in Southeastern Mexico.
- Reviewed the business plans and valued several firms in diverse sectors: non-woven fabrics, auto parts, and ASTM publishing (companies worth over $50 million).
- Advised on the IPO plan for a wholesale and retail firm operating across Mexico under the 7-Eleven brand. The service included the valuation of the ongoing business through discounted cash flows and market multiples methods.
- Valued Barilla's business plan to expand into Mexico via brand acquisition. Discounted cash flows and multiple valuation models were prepared to value a portfolio of brands worth over $80 million.
- Valued and negotiated the debt restructuring of an all-inclusive hotel operation in the Sea of Cortez (worth $30 million).
Financial Analyst and Director
HSBC
- Prepared the financial model and part of the prospectus in the issue of a $600 million debt financing for the construction of the Huites dam project in Northern Mexico. Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers issued a Eurobond.
- Led the preparation of Babcock & Wilcox's commercial proposal for the construction and operation of the coal terminal in Lázaro Cárdenas port (worth $250 million).
- Created the privatization plan for the Mexican ports in the State of Quintana Roo that formed part of the Port Reform Act of 1993.
- Obtained letters of intent from banks to support the ICA Group and Cydsa's financial proposals for sewer treatment plant projects in Mexico (worth $30 million).
- Valued and prepared a prospectus for Acer IPO in the NYSE and Mexican Bolsa.
Financial Analyst
ICA
- Prepared the financial models for the winning bids of over 2,000 km of toll road concessions worth $12 billion.
- Led the financial modeling for financing the La Zurda water supply project in Guadalajara City. A syndicate of banks advanced funds for $300 million.
- Developed the financial models for the bids of urban public service concessions projects—resulting in winning the concession to operate the Aguascalientes City water supply and drainage system (population of 1 million).
- Created and managed the financial modeling for a cruise ship terminal project in Cozumel, México.
- Prepared board presentations for the CFO of a company listed in the NYSE and the Mexican Bolsa.
Education
Specialty Degree in Business Valuation
Mexican College of Civil Engineers - Mexico City, Mexico
Master's Degree in Finance
National University of Mexico - Mexico City, Mexico
Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering
National University of Mexico - Mexico City, Mexico
Certifications
No Code AI and Machine Learning: Building Data Science Solutions
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Investment Philosophies
Stern School of Business at NYU
Applied Corporate Finance
New York University
Advanced Valuation (High Honors)
Leonard N. Stern School of Business, NYU
Skills
Finance
Due Diligence, Corporate Finance, Equity Research Analysis, Fundamental Analysis, Market Research, Financial Model Auditing, Risk Analysis, Financial Modeling, Three-statement Modeling, Asset-based Lending, Asset-backed Securities (ABS), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Project Finance, Forecasting, Fairness Opinion Reports, Equity Financing, Debt Restructuring, Financial Risk Assessment, Credit Risk, Finance Strategy, Financial Restructuring, Unit Pricing, Valuation, Financial Management, Working Capital Management, CFO, Financial Asset Impairment Models, Lease Accounting, Capital Budgeting, Budgeting, Valuation Multiples, Cost of Capital, Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), Debt, Cost of Debt, Profit & Loss (P&L), Profit Ratio Statements, Equity Capital, Valuation Modeling, Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Profitability Analysis, Equity Research, Revenue & Expense Projections, Private Company Valuation, Pricing Strategy, Pricing, Comparable Company Analysis, Credit/Debt, Data Analysis, P&L Forecasting, Cash Flow Modeling, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow, Intellectual Property Valuation, Value Creation, Fundraising, M&A (Sell-side), Capital Raising, Convertible Debt, Private Equity, Asset-based Finance, Financial Reporting, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Capital Structure Analysis, Financial Engineering, Risk, Private Equity Valuation, Dividend Policy, Share Buybacks, Country Risk, Capital Structure Optimization, Project Evaluation, Investment Portfolio Management, DCF Valuation
Output Software
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, IFRS 3, Oracle Crystal Ball
Data & Analysis Software
Capital IQ
Industry Expertise
Agribusiness, Energy, Real Estate, Civil Works, Marinas, Hotels & Lodging, Toll Roads, Sugar Mills, Commercial Real Estate, Agriculture, Edible Oils, Retail & Wholesale, Building & Construction, Aviation, Golf Courses, Construction, Transportation & Shipping, Restaurants & Dining, Capital Markets, Public Companies, Real Estate Development, Food, Residential Real Estate, Amusement Parks, Casinos & Gaming, Power Transmission, Natural Gas, Telecommunications, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Hospitality, Real Estate Modeling
Geographic Expertise
Costa Rica, United States, Spain, United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Bolivia
Other
Initial Public Offerings, Offering Documents, Term Sheets, Finance, Investment Analysis, IAS 36, Excel Modeling, Financial Training, Interim CFO, Project Management, Board Membership, Equities, Training & Training Content Development, Training, Teaching, Monte Carlo Simulations, Financial Statements, Marine Ports & Infrastructure, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Debt Financing, Board Presentations, Stock Analysis, Prospectus Drafting, Econometrics, Fair Value in Reporting, Airports, PPP Projects, Tariff Analysis, IAS Preparation, English-Spanish Translation, Economic Analysis, Budget Modeling, Industry Analysis, Benchmarking, Transfer Pricing, Expert Witness, Fiber Optics, Education, Infrastructure, Goodwill Impairment, IFRS 9, Annual Budgets, Project Budget Management, Growth Strategy, Right-of-way Appraisal, Profit Maximization, Foreign Exchange, Stock Exchange, Distressed Assets, Waste Management, S&P Capital IQ, Arbitrage, Business Plan Consulting, Financing, IFC, Broker Dealers, Development Appraisal, Logistics & Warehousing, Construction Contracting, Stock Market Consulting, Market Sizing, Shares, Statistical Forecasting, Sales Forecasting, Financial Forecasting, Waterfall Modeling, Waterfall Methodology, Costing, Scenario Analysis, Reporting, Analysis, Expense Management, Structured Finance, Condition Assessment Marinas, RFP Pricing, Statistical Data Analysis, Excel Expert, P&L Analysis, P&L Management, Board of Directors, Board Reporting, Board Work, Board Decks, Data Mining, Internet Providers, Demand Planning, Demand Sizing & Segmentation, Inventory, Inventory Management, Consulting, Fractional CFO, Sensitivity Analysis, Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF), Excel 365, CAPEX, Theme Parks, IP Valuation, Intellectual Property, Cash Flow Analysis, Excel Add-ins, M&A Due Diligence (Financial), Exit Strategy, Investment Banking, Power Generation, Multipurpose Pipelines, International Development & Economics, Business Planning, Security, Business Models, Marine Engineering, Statistical Analysis, Information Memoranda, Big Data, Pitch Decks, Web Hosting, Strategy, Microsoft 365, Project Bidding, IFRS Financial Reporting, Tax Minimization, Labor Contract Management, Tourism, Financial Analysis, Equity Investment, Asset Securitization, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Beta Regression, Bottom-up Beta, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), Reinvestment Rate, Growth, Business Life Cycle, Bankruptcy & Insolvency, Cross Holding, Investments, DCF Modeling, K-12 Education, Private Educational Projects, Earnings Analysis, Sustainable Development, Machine Learning, Supervised Machine Learning, RapidMiner, Decision Tree Classification, Decision Tree Regression, Data Science, No-code Machine Learning, Regression Modeling, Recommendation Systems, Trend Forecasting, Decision Support Systems, Predictive Modeling, Predictive Learning, Neural Networks, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), Reports, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Foodtech, Delivery Management
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