Sebastian Lieb, CFA
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Finance Expert
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Toptal member since December 10, 2019
Sebastian is a seasoned finance professional with over ten years of experience working with technology companies in an operating role, as an investor, and as an advisor. His core strengths are project management, financial modeling (LBO, DCF, merger), valuation, investor presentations, and due diligence (market, strategy, competitors).
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Industry Expertise
- Training
- Finance
- Venture Capital & Private Equity
- Healthcare Services
- Fitness & Dance Facilities
- Insurance
- Media & Internet
- Health & Nutrition Products
Other Expertise
- Business Strategy
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- Investment Analysis
- Investor Presentations
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Private Equity
Work Experience
Director Financial Planning & Analysis
Xempus
- Built-up data analytics function inside the company, increasing the number of Tableau users from three to 40 in 18 months.
- Key role in the company’s $70m Series D fundraising in spring 2022.
- Streamlined the company’s budgeting and investor reporting processes to shorten required timescales.
Head of Corporate Development
EGYM
- Led the company's corporate development function, reporting directly to the CFO.
- Evaluated potential M&A add-ons from a strategic and business development perspective, with a key focus on revenue and cost synergies with the existing business. Potential targets included US/EU public companies and privately held businesses.
- Monitored publicly listed competitors and the broader market environment to identify new trends and areas for growth early on.
- Created and maintained a three and five-year business plan across multiple business lines and geographies.
- Set up PMI processes and internal due diligence steps and processes.
- Worked on equity and debt fundraising in close collaboration with senior management, FP&A and external advisors.
Investment Director
Holtzbrinck Digital
- Evaluated numerous add-on acquisitions and minority investment opportunities for the Digital Science portfolio of Holtzbrinck Digital across Europe and the US.
- Led the creation of investment memorandums for the group-wide investment committee and shareholders of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group.
- Ran internal due diligence teams and coordinated external advisors for financial, legal, and tax work.
- Played a key role in the drafting and negotiation of share purchase agreements in close collaboration with internal and external legal counsel.
- Collaborated with portfolio companies on the annual budgeting process and industry best practices and implemented new processes around financial controls and sales.
Senior Associate
HarbourVest Partners
- Completed several growth equity and buyout investments alongside other private equity firms across Europe, such as Finanzcheck.de (€33 million Series C round).
- Focused on technology transactions with a particular interest in software and B2C business models.
- Reviewed financial models and analyses of other co-investors and led the development of internal operating financial models, including several different business cases.
- Led valuation analyses of potential new investments using a variety of methodologies such as comparable companies, comparable transactions, and DCF and LBO models.
- Ran internal due diligence efforts and coordinated financial, legal, tax, and commercial advisors alongside co-investors.
- Oversaw the creation of investment memorandums for a firm-wide investment committee; presented potential investments in front of the committee and followed up with Q&A sessions.
- Sourced new potential investments, particularly in the DACH region.
- Worked with publicly-listed and privately held companies in the US and Europe.
Associate
Arma Partners
- Developed multiple operating models, integrated three statement models, merger models, LBO models, and DCF valuation models.
- Oversaw the valuation analyses for 25+ mandates, using the trading comparables, transaction comparables, DCF, and LBO methods.
- Spearheaded due diligence and M&A processes. Participated in 20+ M&A processes, led the due diligence, coordinated between buyer and seller, and remote as well as onsite meetings.
- Ran business development: actively built and managed the firm's pipeline for the DACH region.
- Worked with clients from numerous European countries, and the US, often across borders. Clients included publicly listed and privately held companies in all aforementioned geographies.
- Built numerous pitch presentations for prospective acquirers, e.g. corporations and financial investors.
Investment Associate
Aurelius
- Built operating and LBO financial models with the possibility to flex numerous assumptions and different cases.
- Led the creation of investment committee memorandums for a wide range of potential new investments across Europe in a number of industries, specifically manufacturing, retail, pulp, and paper.
- Completed the investment in a fine chemicals plant in Scotland.
- Attended several site visits and management meetings.
- Worked across Europe, mainly Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management - Germany
Master's Degree (MBA) in Business Administration (MBA)
Kellogg School of Management - Evanston, Illinois, USA
Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration
Ludwig Maximilians University - Munich, Germany
Certifications
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
Skills
Finance
Finance Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Three-statement Modeling, Investment Memoranda, Growth Equity, Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Growth Capital Raising, Private Equity, Private Equity Valuation, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Investment Briefs, Investment Thesis, Equity Valuation, Venture Funding, Financial Modeling, Equity Capital, Financial Restructuring, Corporate Finance, Public Tender, Due Diligence, Leveraged Buyout Modeling, Minority Investments, Investment Summaries, Investment Portfolio Management, Series B, Comparable Company Analysis, Financial Reporting, Capital Budgeting, Valuation Modeling, Financial Systems, Internal Financial Reporting, M&A Modeling, Transaction Modeling, Fundraising, Finance Process Improvement, M&A (Buy-side), Business Intelligence (BI)
Output Software
Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Excel 2016, Microsoft Excel
Data & Analysis Software
Capital IQ, Bloomberg
Industry Expertise
Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), Software, Health & Wellness, Institutional Investors, Venture Capital, Financial Markets, Retail & Wholesale, Healthcare, Technology
Geographic Expertise
Germany, United Kingdom, United States, France, Spain, Italy
Other
eCommerce, Finance, German-English Translation, S&P Capital IQ, Pitch Books, Information Memoranda, SaaS, Excel Modeling, Business Models, Pitch Presentations, Investor Reporting, Investor Presentations, DCF Modeling, Discounted Cash Flow Analysis, Investment Cases, Investment Ideas, Investment Analysis, Equity Investment, Financial Ratios, Business Analysis, Fintech, Post-merger Integration, Information Technology, Digital Media, Fitness, Business Planning, Business Strategy, Growth Strategy, Growth Analysis, Early-stage Venture Capital, Distressed/Special Situations, Distressed Assets, Carve-out Planning, Process Design, Process Modeling, Financials, Corporate Development, Strategy, Analytics
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