Bechara Kara
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Management Consulting Expert
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since December 7, 2018
Bechara is a private equity professional with ESW Capital, a $5 billion software buyout fund, and a former investment banker at UBS, where he worked on $1+ billion in transactions. He has worked with executives on corporate finance initiatives and advised on due diligence for M&A and fundraising transactions. Experienced with firms of all sizes, Bechara freelances to utilize his financial insight and experience to enhance value for his clients.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Case Studies
Waterfall Model for Private Equity Fund of Funds
National Telecom Operator IPO
Software Expertise
- Microsoft PowerPoint
Other Expertise
- Debt Structuring
- Due Diligence
- Enterprise SaaS
- Equity Financing
- Equity Offerings
- Excel Modeling
- Financial Marketing
Work Experience
Director
GG Capital
- Worked on developing and engaging with a network of institutional and private investors, sustaining a relevant investment pipeline for the business focused on direct real estate transactions.
- Sourced investment opportunities in the real estate space in Europe and across all segments, including offices, residential, and logistics.
- Led transactions from an indicative offering to closing, working with various stakeholders, including law firms, real estate planners, architects, and commercial agents.
FP&A Director
Salla
- Led the Series A fundraising process for the business and contributed to the subsequent Series B round as part of a broader team. Developed a network of venture capital investors locally and internationally.
- Restructured the FP&A function by developing processes for engaging and collaborating with the company's different departments, resulting in increased accuracy in the budgeting exercise and the tracking of key indicators.
- Built an extensive and comprehensive operating model for the business, drafted pitch decks and various other tools for analyzing financial and operational data, and communicated them to relevant internal and external stakeholders.
Associate Director
Razorhorse Capital
- Sourced investments for growth equity and private equity clients. Built the entire origination back and front offices, researching B2B software and tech-enabled solutions focusing on key verticals and horizontals.
- Drafted extensive reports and presentations, quantifying the target markets for venture capital and private equity investors, identifying potential investment targets, and highlighting key M&A and capital raising trends.
- Analyzed US-based venture capital funds' portfolios, contributing to the development of their investment thesis and its formulation.
- Developed the marketing strategy of US- and EMEA-based investment funds, enabling them to communicate their investment rationale effectively online and offline through presentations and newsletters.
- Engaged with CEOs and founders across the technology space, developing a network of C-level executives in EMEA and the US, both on the investor and investee sides.
Trade Finance Expert
Arjan Capital Ltd
- Oversaw the setup of Artis Trade, a trade finance financing house focused on trade financing instruments including but not limited to invoice factoring, sale and purchase agreements, etc.
- Contributed to the development of a recurring financing strategy for pharma financing in Spain worth north of €20 million.
- Developed the Artis brand managed by Arjan Capital, an entity with experience in trade financing in the MENA and Central Asia regions.
Business Development and Investment Management
ESW Capital
- Identified M&A and strategic opportunities in the B2B software and financial technology spaces, developed relationships with C-level executives, and executed transactions.
- Researched market trends and conducted competitive analyses by analyzing and presenting information as part of internal and external market reports.
- Drove the market expansion and the implementation of the investment thesis by developing a sales and customer relationship management process using software including HubSpot and DealCloud.
- Managed the due diligence processes, created financial models, and determined the valuation based on critical software metrics, including retention and customer lifetime value.
- Prepared investment recommendations for the ESW Investment Committee, including presentations and financial models, for the successful acquisitions of Olive Software, ResponseTek, and Knowledge Marketing.
Investment Manager
Crowdcube Ventures
- Conceptualized an innovative debt-raising platform and managed the product development strategy from inception to execution.
- Designed financial models to assist the senior management of small and medium-sized UK companies with fundraising and to help optimize their capital-raising strategies.
- Performed in-depth analysis of operating models, stress-testing the critical assumptions that drove a company's revenue and costs, helping to validate the performance outlook of the business for potential investors.
- Structured debt transactions with features including security, amortization, and inflation-linkage for companies in the technology, consumer, real estate, and renewable industries.
- Conducted and closed crowdfunding campaigns across a wide range of sectors, raising as much as GBP 10 million in retail bonds, including a complex inflation-linked offering for a renewable energy business.
Investment Manager
QWin Capital
- Worked with the co-founders for the launch of a $500 million fund targeting primary and secondary investment opportunities in Asia and the Middle East, communicating with potential limited partners.
- Managed the fundraising process and met with a wide range of limited partners, securing $50 million in commitments from a family office located in the Middle East.
- Performed a fundamental fund analysis and selection, mapping and ranking general partners in relevant regions after meeting a wide range of private equity funds operating in Asia and the Middle East.
- Built a data room for the fund including documents for corporate governance, the investment thesis, and the marketing strategy as well as waterfall models replicating potential fund investments over the full lifecycle of the vehicle.
- Evaluated the acquisition of Chinese secondary portfolios as well as primary investments in Turkey and Citadel for Turkish and Egyptian general partners.
Associate
UBS Investment Bank
- Built leveraged buyout and M&A models for infrastructure and transport corporations, including airports, ports, and airline operators.
- Determined and executed capital structure optimization mandates advising on complex fundraising solutions such as rights issues, initial public offerings, as well as equity-linked and derivative products.
- Prepared presentations for capital raise and advisory meetings developing equity financing models for UK real estate and construction companies seeking to recapitalize in the wake of the financial crisis.
- Worked as part of the syndicate team liaising with investors and marketing capital raises on behalf of issuers, aligning marketing with investment strategies of various fund managers.
- Built corporate finance transaction models for earnings estimates and to determine the sustainability of dividend payouts incorporating financial variables, including estimated volatility and credit spread.
Financial Analyst
General Electric
- Managed the base costs for the integrated IT Solutions business unit P&L in Europe, covering 300 employees and totaling $40 million in expenses.
- Contributed to the quarterly financial reporting by consolidating accounts and analyzing performance as the business unit grew by acquiring new entities.
- Worked on accounts reconciliation and the reorganization of cost and profit centers, constituting the overall reporting structure.
- Developed detailed spreadsheets to analyze trends and forecasts, contributing to the company's budget review and leading to the identification of legacy costs from acquisitions and ultimately increased margins.
- Created and delivered presentations to senior management of the European Healthcare division of General Electric.
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in General Management
ESSEC - Paris, France
Master's Degree in Political Science
University of Warwick - Warwick, UK
Bachelor's Degree in Economics
American University of Beirut - Beirut, Lebanon
Certifications
MIT
Commercial Real Estate
Private Markets
University of Oxford
Family Enterprises and Wealth
Columbia University
Chartered Accountant
CIMA
Skills
Finance
Budgeting, Financial Modeling, Investment Memoranda, Equity Financing, Equity Valuation, Debt Structuring, Capital Structuring, Financial Marketing, Accounting, Capital Raising, Growth Capital Raising, Equity Raises, Equity Offerings, Equity Capital, Growth Equity, Convertible Debt, Debt, Debt Raises, Subordinated Debt, Venture Debt, Crowdinvesting, Crowdfunding, Equity Crowdfunding, Revenue Modeling, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Corporate Finance, Creative Financing, Three-statement Modeling, Fundraising, Seed Fundraising, Capital, Cost of Capital, Funding Process, Due Diligence, Market Research, CFO, Pricing Strategy, Forecasting, Private Company Valuation, Trade Finance, Debt Workouts, Private Equity, Financial Management, Transaction Structuring, Equity Research, Convertible Equity, Debt Restructuring, Cash Flow Modeling, M&A Modeling, Valuation Modeling, Leveraged Buyout Modeling, Transaction Modeling, Business Advisory, Five-year Projections, Revenue & Expense Projections, Finance Strategy, Investment Thesis, Structuring of Funds, Private Equity Valuation, Private Equity Secondaries, Fund Management, Fund Governance, Venture Funding, Valuation, Series A, Series B, Project Finance
Output Software
Excel 2010, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
Data & Analysis Software
Salesforce, Bloomberg
Industry Expertise
Technology, Capital Markets, Financial Markets, Venture Capital, Banking & Finance, Software, Debt Capital Markets, Insurance Technology (Insurtech)
Geographic Expertise
United States, EMEA, United Kingdom, France
Other
Pricing Software, Equity Investment, Debt Financing, Excel Modeling, Pitch Books, Financials, Business Planning, Business Development, Investment Capital Raising, Crowdfunding Promotion, Crowdsourcing, Strategy, Business Strategy, Product Strategy, Growth Strategy, Digital Strategy, HubSpot, Modeling, Models, Operating Models, Equity, Financing, Strategic Planning & Execution, SME/SMB Financing, Capital Advisory, Marketing, Email Marketing, Product Marketing, Software Equity, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Crowdfunding Consultant, Software as a Service (SaaS), SaaS, Enterprise SaaS, Salesforce Knowledge, Financial Analysis, Market Research & Analysis, Investments, Interim CFO, Pricing Models, Subscription Pricing, Dashboards, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Startups, Early-stage Funding, Investment Strategy, Finance, Investment Manager, Leveraged Finance, Private Placements, Investment Banking, Investment Analysis, Content Creation, Content Writing, Investment Research, Alternative Investments, Investment Funds, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), SAP BusinessObjects (BO), Finance Blog, Derivatives, Fintech, B2B, eCommerce, eCommerce Analysis, Questionnaires, Historical Modeling, Metrics, Key Performance Metrics, Initial Public Offerings, Roadshows, Limited Partnerships, DealCloud CRM, Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF), Family Office, Family Office Management, Family Office Consultants, Pitch Decks, IT
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