Home - Valpre Capital

Team

Management

Mohamed Ali Beyhum

Founder & Chairman

Experience

Mohamed Ali has over 30 years of experience in the financial sector. Prior to founding Valpre Capital, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Bankmed in Lebanon and was the Chairman of MedSecurities Investment and Emkan Finance. He also served on the boards of BankMed Suisse in Switzerland, Turkland Bank in Turkey and SaudiMed Investment Company in Saudi Arabia. Prior to his appointment as CEO of Bankmed, he was responsible for the strategic expansion and business development of the bank in the MENA region and was leading change initiatives in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland across businesses and operations. Mohamed Ali started his career with The Bank of New York and Irving Trust in New York where he spent 7 years then moved to their regional office in Lebanon to serve as their Vice President and Senior Representative.

Education

Mohamed Ali holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Management from Columbia University in New York and a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Mazen AbouChakra

Founder & Managing Partner

Experience

Mazen has over 20 years of experience in the investment management and corporate law. Prior to founding Valpre Capital, he served as Executive member of the Board of Directors, Chief Legal Officer & Deputy CEO of Oger Telecom Ltd. He was overseeing the group’s investments in different ICT businesses across multiple markets and led a number of teams in major M&A and corporate finance transactions. He was also member of the Board of Directors of Turk Telekom, Argela, and AssisTT in Turkey, and Cell C in South Africa.

Education

Mazen is admitted to the Beirut Bar Association and holds a degree (Maitrise) in Law from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, a Masters in Business Law from Paris I-Sorbonne University in Paris, a Master of Business Administration from London Business School and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University in New York.

Ahmad M. Hariri

Founder & Managing Partner

Experience

Ahmad has over 16 years of experience in banking, real estate and investment management. He started his career in 2004 with Citigroup in London in the Project Finance team where he was involved in large infrastructure financings across oil & gas, power and industrials and later on in the Debt Capital Market team responsible for raising bank and capital market financing for sponsors in the Middle East and North Africa. He joined the Oger Group in 2008 and worked for the Insurance & Reinsurance subsidiary, MedGulf and later for the corporate finance team involved in financings across the Construction, Banking and Telecoms operations. In 2012, Ahmad launched a real-estate business in the UK focused on the development and management of prime Central London residential properties as well as operations in property finding, letting & sales.

Education

Ahmad holds a Bachelor of Business and Finance from the American University of Beirut.

Sami Hakim

Partner

Experience

Sami has over 18 years of experience in Corporate Finance and investment management. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, he served as a Senior Director responsible for Corporate Finance and M&A at Oger Telecom. He joined the company from Citigroup where he gained more than 9 years of banking experience having served as a Director in the London based CEEMEA investment banking team. Sami’s experience is relevant to raising debt and equity for corporates in emerging markets having worked on a number of transactions with a total amount exceeding USD75bn, as well as advising a select number of clients on debt restructuring and M&A.

Education

Sami holds a distinction in his MSc in Finance from CASS Business School/City University in London as well as in his Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

Mohamad Karout

Partner

Experience

Mohamad has over 30 years of experience in the banking and financial services sector across Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, he served as a Director and MENA Head for FICC Structured Sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Dubai. Mohamad started his career in Paris where he worked for several multinational financial institutions before moving to Saudi Arabia to work at Saudi Investment Bank followed by Al Ahli NCB.

Education

Mohamad holds a Master's in Business and Finance from ISGP - ESA3 - Talis Business School in Paris.

Amin Rizk

Chief Financial Officer

Experience

Amin has over 30 years of experience in financial management and investments. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, he served as the Chief Financial Officer at Al Futtaim Investment Management, an Asset Management company registered at the Dubai International Financial Centre that manages a US$ 385 million MENA investment fund. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer of North Africa Holding, a Private Equity Investment Holding in Kuwait with a capital of US$ 180 million. His diversified career spans Hospitality, FMCG, aviation, manufacturing and financial services in addition to a track record in raising debt and equity in the MENA region, a plethora of experience in steering businesses with the creation and implementation of financial strategy.

Education

Amin has a Master in Banking and Finance from Université Saint Joseph in Beirut Lebanon, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Rania Safa

Director

Experience

Rania Safa has over 20 years of experience in banking and investments. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, she served as Head of SME & Commercial Banking at Bankmed. She joined Bankmed in 2008 as a relationship manager and was then appointed as Unit Head. She led the organization redesign of the SME business, established a unit covering multiple sectors including companies with regional presence, and directly contributed to the double-digit growth of SME over several consecutive years. Prior to joining Bankmed, Rania had worked for more than 9 years in Corporate Banking at: Fransabank and Byblos Bank.

Education

Rania has completed the PLD, an Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, and she is a CFA Charterholder.

Rosine Makhlouf

Director

Experience

Rosine has 20 years of experience in private equity and advisory in France and the Middle East. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, she served as a director responsible of the fundraising and investors relation at a French hospitality and real estate group. She joined the company from Deloitte Private ME, where she was a family business senior advisor building and structuring family offices in the GCC. She had also served as a venture capitalist for a French private equity fund before co-founding a Mergers & Acquisitions and Advisory boutique focused on privately-owned SMEs and cross-border transactions in Europe.

Education

Rosine holds a civil engineering degree from École Supérieure des Ingénieurs de Beyrouth and MSC in Finance & Business Administration from École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.

Robert Nasr

General Counsel

Experience

Robert has over 20 years of experience in international law and investments. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, he acted as senior advisor for a London based family office with more than US$ 1 billion under management. Robert’s extensive experience covers a wide range of transactions related to energy, real estate, project financing, private placements, corporate restructuring, tax, and compliance related matters in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Canada in both legal and commercial advisory roles.

Education

Robert is admitted to the Beirut Bar Association and holds a Masters in Business Administration from ESCP Business School, Paris.

Ibrahim Rizkallah

Associate Director

Experience

Ibrahim has over 18 years of experience in financial management. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, he served as the Finance Manager of LIMAG SAL, a Lebanese holding company with subsidiaries in Lebanon and Qatar specialized in the distribution of construction materials. He joined LIMAG in 2003. During his employment, he has successfully reshaped both the financial and accounting departments in terms of policies, procedures and internal controls, modified the pricing policy in order to mitigate exchange rate fluctuations and introduced currency hedging practices. He also conducted equity valuations, feasibility studies and prepared business plans to introduce new lines of business and expand in new markets.

Education

Ibrahim holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and a Master in Global Advanced Finance from IE Business School, Spain.

Salam Nassar

Financial Controller

Experience

Salam has over 10 years of experience in Managerial Accounting and Financial Controls. Prior to joining Valpre Capital, he served as the Financial Controller of Prime Pro Investment, a Lebanese holding company with subsidiaries in Lebanon and Africa, specialised in Telecommunication, Trading, Construction and Mining. He was responsible for reporting, budgeting and ERP implementation across the group. Previously, he had gained remarkable financial expertise with Azadea group in Retail, Food & Beverage, and Logistics across the MENA region.

Education

Salam holds a Bachelor of Accounting and Auditing from Sagesse University in Beirut, and is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) charterholder.

Joseph Kanaan

Financial Controller

Experience

Joseph has over 40 years of experience in financial reporting and auditing. Before joining Valpre Capital, he served as the Head of Accounting at Bahrain Air. He joined the company in 2007 and was responsible for implementing policies and procedures, controls, and preparing the management reports for the Board of Directors. Previously, he served in financial institutions such as BLC Bank and Lebanon Invest. Joseph started his career in public accounting and spent more than 20 years with KPMG and EY.

Education

Joseph holds a Bachelor of Accounting and Auditing from the Lebanese University.

Advisory Board

Pierre Gaspard

Independent Advisor

Experience

Pierre Gaspard has more than 35 years of experience in the financial sector. He is currently an independent Board Member and Chairman of the Risk Committee at Bank of Beirut, a Lebanese bank with international presence in Sydney, London and Muscat. He previously served as a Board Member and Advisor to the Chairman at Saradar Bank. Throughout his career, Mr. Gaspard held several senior positions in Canadian and Lebanese banks, namely in the fields of Treasury and Capital Markets.

Education

Mr. Gaspard holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the American University of Beirut and a Master of Business Administration from California State University.

Naaman Atallah

Independent Advisor

Experience

Naaman Atallah has more than 25 years of experience in the real estate sector. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Piramal Realty in India. Mr. Atallah is the former CEO of Dubai Properties with a $30bn portfolio, former COO at Qatari Diar, where he was in charge of an international portfolios worth over $40bn including the prestigious Chelsea Barracks. He served as the COO of Emaar Properties, where he worked extensively on some of the world’s most iconic projects such as the Burj Khalifa, Armani Hotel and Dubai Mall and former Executive at Solidere, where he headed the development of the largest mixed-use project in Lebanon, the Beirut Souks.

Education

Mr. Atallah holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Pepperdine University and completed an Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD, France.

Kamal A. Hatoum

Independent Advisor

Experience

Kamal A. Hatoum has over 30 years of experience in the financial and private equity sectors. Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of BBB Foods/ Tiendras Tres B in Mexico, the first hard discount food and fastest growing retailer with more than 900 stores and growing with 12 new stores in a period of one month in Mexico. He is the former Managing Director in charge of Eastern Europe and MENA in the Global private equity group of Merryll Lynch. Mr. Hatoum has held a number of senior positions in several other reputable firms including McKinsey & Co and JP Morgan in New York.

Education

Mr. Hatoum holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Columbia University, an Master of science in Civil engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the business school of Stanford University.

Conor Moran

Independent Advisor

Experience

Conor Moran is a Managing Director with Key Capital in Dublin, Ireland with responsibility for the group’s portfolio of investment companies. He previously served as Head of Corporate Finance advising both domestic and international clients on acquisitions, restructurings, disposals and fundraisings. Previously, Mr. Moran worked with Allied Irish Bank (AIB) in the Corporate Finance team advising both the bank on international acquisitions and third-party clients on the full suite of corporate activity. Mr. Moran qualified as an Accountant with KPMG Ireland where he worked across the firm’s Business Advisory Services department and Corporate Finance unit working as part of the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) team specialising in large scale infrastructure projects advising both the public and private sector.

Education

Mr. Moran holds a Degree in Accounting and Finance from Dublin City University and is a Fellow of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.