Financial Advisor
More Capital S.A.L
Total years of experience :21 years, 5 Months
Financial advisor with More Capital, a boutique firm that provides financial and legal advisory
services to businesses involved in real estate, contracting, commodity trading, and e-commerce in
Lebanon and the GCC. My scope of work consists in:
§ Attracting new business and prospecting potential investors.
§ Providing financial insights and debt-advisory services to businesses / investors.
§ Assisting CFOs and Finance Directors in formulating their investment and funding strategy to
external lenders (institutional and private), and providing necessary support during the
negotiations process.
§ Drafting RFPs, RFIs, Info Memos, and formulating initial term-sheets and credit asks.
§ Reviewing financial models, assessing key financial figures and ratios.
§ Providing recommendations to business owners on the appropriate funding structure, credit
terms, security packages and other commercial-related terms.
Assisted the Group Treasurer in functions related to raising debt on the Group and subsidiaries level in the form of club deals, syndications, bilateral lending, and project finance.
• Owned the entire funding process of each project from the origination to the closing phase.
• Reviewed financial forecasts and provided recommendations; drafted and submitted RFPs and IMs; negotiated borrowing terms, reviewed and pre-approved borrowing documents and ensured proper debt implementation. Total amount executed c. $700 million, which included a club deal for a commercial real estate project and a syndicated revolving long-term facility.
• Ensured that credit terms (covenants, caveats, carve outs, collateral thresholds etc.) were properly defined, can be complied with and were aligned with the Group’s borrowing policy.
• Coordinated with CoSec and the General Counsel on the execution of legal matters - reps and warrants, CPs, CS, loan debentures and the like.
• Assessed financial performances and forecasts of businesses and recommended if internal or external funding is required.
• Provided support when regulatory and compliance issues arose.
• Acted as second back up for the treasury dealer for functions related to FX dealings and cash management.
• Managed a portfolio of circa $800 million and $120 million in total assets and liabilities respectively, composed of top-tier domestic corporates active in the fields of Contracting, Manufacturing, Logistics & Warehousing, Real Estate, and Energy.
• Identified funding needs by taking a holistic view on clients’ business and area of business in which they operate; ensured they were inline with the bank’s lending policies and credit appetite.
• Recommended appropriate credit structures and drafted lending proposals for domestic and cross-border financing in the form of committed and uncommitted facilities for capex, investments in properties, buy-outs, projects financing (energy, O&G) and trade financing.
• Submitted and presented business-case proposals to the bank’s credit committees.
• Revised and signed off on the finance documents, ensured proper implementation.
• Shared credit responsibility and monitored on-going customer activity and portfolio quality.
• Checked and inked credit appraisals, on a pre-fact and post-fact basis.
• Collaborated closely with the risk department to solve and monitor credit, regulatory and compliance issues, breaches in covenants and thresholds (LTV ratios, MAEs, EoDs, etc.).
• Worked in conjunction with the Corporate Finance team and the IBD on project financing deals (IWPPs, EPCIs, BOTs projects) and balance sheet restructuring.
• Cross-sold Trade Finance solutions, Treasury and Cash Management products.
• Coordinated with internal and external counsel for non-standard transactions; e.g. LMAs, ECA financing, assignments, novation and custody agreements.
• Took part in various task forces to improve client centricity, enhance risk control measures and internal approvals / procedures.
• Managed a portfolio composed of medium-sized enterprises & industries.
• Produced the credit package: financial spreads, credit analysis reports, and the commercial proposal.
• Handled the subsidised loan funding programs (Kafalat, IFC, BDL) intended to fund medium-sized agri-businesses, pharmaceuticals and para-medical industries.
• One and half year thorough rotation in retail banking: front office and customer service.