Mark Wyllie, Finance Expert in Cairo, Egypt

Mark Wyllie

Finance Expert

Location
Cairo, Egypt
Toptal Member Since
May 2, 2017

In his corporate career, Mark served as the CFO and VP of corporate finance for a NASDAQ company, working internationally in Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. As a freelancer, he helped analyze the setup of a new investment fund and raised funds to build wind turbine special purpose vehicles. He uses his extensive experience to work directly with clients on end-to-end projects, from strategy to final implementation. Mark is particularly adept with fundraising and shareholder support.

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Career Highlights

Vice President, Corporate Finance
Central European Media Enterprises
CFO
Central European Media Enterprises
Finance Director, CEE and Asia
United Biscuits

Education

Bachelor's Degree
University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science

Select Certifications

Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA)
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Case Studies

Image of Investment Fund Model and Sales Documentation project
Investment Fund Model and Sales Documentation
ModelingSalesFundraising
Image of Corporate Finance Strategy—NASDAQ Company project
Corporate Finance Strategy—NASDAQ Company
Debt IssuanceTreasury & Liquidity ManagementBoard PresentationsAnalysisFinance StrategyCorporate Finance
Image of Liquidity Options | Disposal of a Business in a Downturn project
Liquidity Options | Disposal of a Business in a Downturn
Treasury & Liquidity ManagementBoard PresentationsFinancial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)Scenario AnalysisDisposalFinance Strategy
Image of New 2020 Senior Notes Update project
New 2020 Senior Notes Update
Credit/DebtBoard PresentationsAnalysis
Image of Advice and Negotiation of Partial Sale into a Joint Venture project
Advice and Negotiation of Partial Sale into a Joint Venture
FundraisingSale of BusinessDue DiligenceProject Management

Industry Expertise

FintechProject ManagementConsumer Products

Other Expertise

BroadcastingCFOManufacturingShareholder Liquidity & SuccessionThree-statement ModelingTreasury & Liquidity Management

Work Experience

2017 - PRESENT

CFO International Dairy and Juice

Almarai
  • Turned around a Jordan subsidiary from loss to profit.
  • Reset a finance function to deliver ROI and cut costs.
  • Introduced micro-marketing tools and analytics to drive sales and profit.
  • Implemented a cultural transformation focused on rewarding performance.
Focus areas: Large-scale Turnaround & Transformation, Strategy, Corporate, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Revenue & Expense Projections, Financial Modeling, Business Strategy, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
2013 - 2017

Director | Consultant | Adviser

Financial Consulting (Self-employed)
  • Raised £4 million using crowdfunding for investments in wind turbine sites in SPVs across the UK, and then combined a number of them into a portfolio. Nine turbines have been refinanced into a long-term portfolio, and one turbine SPV has been sold for £2 million.
  • Provided ongoing financial management support to the portfolio—including preparation of accounts, banking and performance records setup and provided monthly and quarterly reporting to loan fund management in line with their reporting requirements.
  • Provided and implemented suggestions on the financial strategy and explored the potential for a resale of turbines to later-stage investors.
  • Developed a crowdfunding SME investment fund from set-up to a pre-launch stage—including legal submissions to Cyprus SEC and creation of portfolio projections and performance analysis packs for investors.
  • Participated in a US roadshow with potential investors to test the appetite for the fund.
  • Spoke at an AltFI conference in December 2015. The project was shelved due to market shifts.Set up a BVI-Malta tax planning structure and Maltese and BVI legal entities.
  • Negotiated a Bermuda bank account for the BVI entity. Supervised yearly audit and regulatory submissions in Malta.
  • Changed the BVI agent to minimize regulatory burden and costs.
Focus areas: Fintech, Alternative Investments, Distressed/Special Situations, Sale of Business, Strategy, Fundraising, Pitch Decks, Financial Modeling, Business Strategy
2003 - 2013

Vice President, Corporate Finance

Central European Media Enterprises
  • Raised, managed, and refinanced $2 billion of equity and debt in senior and convertible notes.
  • Created and controlled the treasury policy and processes for the group.
  • Won the "Treasury Today" award for a refinancing deal in 2010 by creating and leading the private refinance of $200 million of convertible notes. Dealt directly with investors to build and price own book.
  • Advised the board and treasury committee on debt and equity strategy as well as fundraising. Implemented recommendations through roadshows, funding, and issuing of notes.
  • Ran special projects for CFO/COO ranging from internal audit to tax planning. Negotiated with the Dutch tax authorities to reduce a tax bill from $120 million to $25 million.
Focus areas: Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Strategy, Financial Risk Assessment, Fundraising, Treasury, Pitch Decks, Forecasting, Business Strategy
2000 - 2003

CFO

Central European Media Enterprises
  • Took over after the resignation of the prior CFO (following the loss of the largest subsidiary and core cash generator of the group).
  • Recruited a new finance team to focus on the operational performance of the subsidiaries across CEE to turn them cash positive.
  • Worked with local partners, management, and direct subsidiaries to remove the subsidiaries' reliance on corporate cash and to ensure that the subsidiaries survived on their own cash flow.
  • Recommended a tight-and-detailed management plan of CapEx, and maintenance and development plans so that each subsidiary had to rely on its own resources.
  • Traveled 70% of the time across CEE to work with the local management to analyze problems, develop solutions, and ensure commitment and implementation.
  • Led and managed the reapplication of the listing of the company on the NASDAQ Exchange (2002)—including a provision of US GAAP financials (three years), forecasts, compliance reports, and a detailed NASDAQ listing setup.
  • Renegotiated and extended a bank loan in the Czech Republic with a local bank. Payment of the amount in the original terms and tenure would have left the company insolvent.
  • Extended the loan by five years, renegotiated security package and payment terms against local assets to remove a significant risk from the company's immediate future.
  • Improved the share price of the company. The share price of the company was 0.20c in the beginning. As management improved the operational performance and the legal position of the company was clarified, the share price rose to $20. The company high-yield bonds were trading at 30-50c on the dollar; led the refinancing of these at a lower rate with full repayment to lenders.
Focus areas: International Finance, Management, Cash Flow Calculation, Board Reporting, Board of Directors, Interest Rate Risk, Legal, Compliance, CFO, Financial Reporting, Forecasting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Financial Modeling, Business Strategy
1994 - 2000

Finance Director, CEE and Asia

United Biscuits
  • Led the finances of the Asian and Central and Eastern European subsidiaries of United Biscuits—including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Hungary, and Poland.
  • Provided board reports, consolidations and trained local financial management.
  • Worked across functions to provide audit support, capital project analysis, and personnel management to develop the region.
  • Closed down the Japan office and negotiated an exit from difficult JV partners in Japan and the Philippines.
Focus areas: Disposal, Risk, Financial Controlling, Strategy, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Forecasting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Financial Modeling, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
1988 - 2000

Financial Controller

United Biscuits
  • Started as a group accountant in the divisional (McVities) central team—consolidating the division and factory reports ($500 million sales) and providing an analysis to the divisional board.
  • Promoted to finance manager of the Halifax factory—a £20 million refurbishment project to rebuild the McVities Cake Company brand.
  • Oversaw the capital spend, built a new finance team, and saw growth from £10 million sales to £40 million.
  • Transferred to the Manchester factory (£120 million sales) to redefine the finance team and provide complex costing support for the new factory manager in a declining-sales-and-rising-costs situation.
  • Rebuilt successfully a smaller team, recruited higher quality long-term support, and built confidence in the factory's ability to survive and grow after a prior series of poor "white-elephant" CapEx investments.
Focus areas: Costing, Consolidation, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Financial Reporting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
1986 - 1988

Junior Consultant

Metapraxis
  • Completed multiple financial projects for international companies (EMI, Welcome, Burmah-Castrol) involving programming solutions that delivered graphical and tabular representations of high-level financial information.
  • Captured data from local systems via downloads and file transfers, and reformatted that into usable and effective management data.
  • Displayed the data and explained the underlying trends to boards which required quick, effective, high-level analyses.
Focus areas: Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Programming

Education

1982 - 1986

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering Economics and Management

University of Oxford, Department of Engineering Science - Oxford, UK

Certifications

JANUARY 1993 - PRESENT

Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA)

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants