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Alexander

Corporate Development Senior Manager

London, United Kingdom

I’m a Corporate Development & Strategy professional with strong experience buy-and-build experience across Europe. At Awaze, I led over 15 closed M&A deals and was actively involved in more than 25, significantly increasing the deal pace from 2-3 per year to 10 per year by the end of my tenure. I also rebuilt the European M&A pipeline from 200 to over 3,000 targets, driving strategic growth across key markets like Germany, Portugal, Croatia, and Denmark. I have extensive experience negotiating SPAs and leading full deal cycles, from initial outreach through to closing and integration. With a track record across the lower to upper mid-market, I seamlessly navigate deals of all sizes, ensuring M&A strategy aligns with business goals. I’ve consistently secured C-suite buy-in and supported higher deal volumes with a specialized integration function.

Domain experience

Relevant Total Experience: 10 years

Seniority Level: Manager

Sector Experience: 

Air Freight and Logistics Biotechnology Electric Utilities Gas Utilities Health Care Equipment and Services Health Care Providers and Services Hotels, Resorts and Cruise Lines Internet and Direct Marketing Retail Pharmaceuticals Real Estate Services

Skills

Skilled in: Acquihire

Technical Skills: Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Office

Languages: English

Work Experience

Awaze

Corporate Development & Strategy Manager

01/05/2019

 

- 1/9/2024

• Mid size German Vacation Rental Company (~1,000 properties in Northern Germany, the joint 2nd largest vacation rental agency in the Country), (June 2023 completion) - Led the end-end deal process & worked with a new Integration Team to deliver a robust integration plan • Mid size German Vacation Rental Company (~500 properties in the largest coastal vacation park in Germany), (October 2022 completion) - Led the end-end deal process from initial reach out to close • Boutique Portuguese Vacation Rental Company (~250 high end villas in the Algarve, Portugal), (October 2022 completion) - Led diligence and SPA negotiations • Boutique Danish Vacation Rental Company, (~250 holiday homes on the Samso Island, Denmark), (July 2022 Completion) - Led diligence and SPA negotiation in a compressed timeframe, completing in less than 30 days from diligence onset • Boutique Ibiza Vacation Renal Company (~200 high end Villas in Ibiza), (Jun 2022 Completion) - Led diligence and SPA negotiations over a 2 year period, with multiple pauses due to Covid • Three deals in Croatia - collectively over 2,200 villas), (March 2022 Completion) - Led efforts to conclude the acquisition of 3 deals in parallel, overseeing the synergy analysis of two M&A Managers in the team - Simultaneous signing of all 3 deals co-ordinated to occur on the same day - clean sweep of the best agencies in Croatia • Boutique Vacation Rental Company in Mallorca (~100 high end Villas in Mallorca), (January 2022 Completion) - Led negotiations (deal structure / price) to acquire a local villa agent as a spearhead for growth in a difficult to penetrate market • Boutique UK Vacation Rental Company (~400 properties in Cornwall), (November 2021 Completion) - Led the initial valuation work and commercial side of the investment committee paper enabling deal approval • Mid-Size UK Vacation Rental Company (Holiday Home Rental - 670 Properties in Wales), (August 2021 Completion) - Led the dual purchase of an asset and share deal for the two companies respectively • Friendly Rentals (Awaze Owned Urban Rentals, spin off from Awaze to VC Backed Urban Rental Company), (Jun 2021 Completion) - Acted as Awaze deal negation lead with external parties, oversaw diligence prep & Q&A response • Mid Size Danish Vacation Rental Company, (Holiday Home & Hotel Rental - 660 Properties in Denmark & Tour Operating Business), (May 2021 Completion) - Led end-end negotiations, deal process & legal execution in addition to investment case submission to Platinum • Boutique UK Vacation Rental Company (Holiday Home Rental - 300 Properties in Cornwall & Sussex), (May 2021 Completion) - Deal lead (led negotiations, investment paper writing, oversaw FDD, LDD, internal CDD and co-led integration planning) • Boutique Dutch Vacation Rental Company (Cross Border Merger, Netherlands entity acquired, Danish acquiring firm), (December 2020 Completion) - Led negotiation with the sellers & their advisors (price / SPA negotiations & Earn-out Structure) • Leading independent NL Holiday Home Real Estate brokerage firm, (December 2020 Completion) - Led internal modelling & commercial diligence, managing an Awaze subsidiary M&A / business development team • Acquired the European Operations of US Headquartered Vacation Rentals Operator – (November 2020 Completion) - Asset deal for EU homeowner property contracts, led valuation work, investment case & supported on legal execution • c.£500m Revenue Vacation Rental Business (International Footprint), (2019, didn’t progress post LOI stage) - Built a valuation model based on the IM and internal data, working with operational leads in the business to refine synergies • c.£100m Revenue – Public Corporate Carve Out; (European), (2019, didn’t progress after 3rd round bid) - Worked directly with the Platinum Operations SVP on a loss making carve out requiring significant restructuring • Series C Backed Start-up (International Footprint), (Pre-Pack process was not successful, business model required very significant investment) - Reviewed the financial forecast of an international urban rental business undergoing a pre-pack administration process

Deloitte

M&A Manager Healthcare & Life Sciences

01/04/2018

 

- 01/04/2019

• Buy side advisory for Foster Care Company (Acquired by Mid Market PE Fund) - Worked on the market, exit options and operations sections of the PE Fund's investment committee paper • Sell side advisory for a a digital health company specializing in Real World Evidence consulting (Acquired by Large Cap US Pharma Group) - Worked on the Information Memorandum & other marketing materials, attended management meetings • Sector research on IVF clinics, elderly case and adult specialist care • Led efforts to create marketing materials for a sell side pitch for a UK based diagnostics business (subsequently closed) - Developed a DCF to value the company, benchmarked valuation against precedent transactions and comparable companies

Netscientific

Venture Capital

01/06/2017

 

- 01/03/2018

Investment / Fundraising • $25m (EV) Series A investment with a Chinese VC fund (closed) for a NetScientific Portfolio Company. Assessed valuation using DCF models and precedent transactions • $100m (EV) investment with a Chinese Pharmaceutical assessed for a diagnostics investment (didn’t progress post LOI) • Built DCF models to value all portfolio companies, both for investment and financial reporting purposes • Reviewed the strategic fit of potential M&A deals for NetScientific (e.g. reverse takeovers) and made recommendations to the CEO • £5m NetScientific fundraise (closed). Produced marketing materials and managed fundraise process with external advisors • Communicated news flow with equity research analysts covering NetScientific and fed into model assumptions and valuations Strategy / Portfolio Company Support • Worked with the Chief Commercial Officer of a Digital Health Company to reposition the business and make it more attractive to investors • Carried out scenario analysis to assist the CEO of a Northern Ireland Based Diagnostics company in understanding projected cash flows and refine sales strategy - Assisted the CEO in developing an Information Memorandum to attract external capital • Worked directly with the CEO of a digital health company to restructure operations to a leaner growth model

Lincoln Pensions

Corporate Finance Analyst

01/07/2016

 

- 01/05/2017

• Advised on demerger feasibility for a FTSE 250 logistics company, with management subsequently disposing of one division in Jun 2018 - Developed a financial model incorporating scenario analysis for debt, pension liabilities, revenue growth and dividends to optimise the takeover valuations of the demerged divisions, presented directly to the CFO • Completed a strategic and financial review of a DAX 30 leading to the completion of a £900mn pension funding deal • Reviewed the credit strength of a FTSE 100 Oil & Gas company, justifying funding for the £20bn pension scheme • Discussed the financial implications of accelerating pensions payments with the EMEA CFO of a leading Financial Institution

Barclays

Risk Graduate Programme

01/08/2014

 

- 01/06/2016

Barclays Capital Credit Sanctioning (Graduate Scheme 3rd and 4th Rotations) • Performed cash flow and credit analysis for a US$500mn underwrite in a leading pharma companies US$6bn acquisition • Reviewed the credit strength of FTSE 100 water company, recommended extending existing loan facility • Recommended a downgrade of the credit strength of Fortune 500 listed Oil and Gas Exploration Company due to depressed oil prices • Developed a financial model to analyse credit default swap (CDS) pricing by collaborating with Market Risk team Barclays Group Country Risk (Graduate Scheme 2nd Rotation) • Highlighted countries vulnerable to capital flight by studying government and corporate yield curve correlations • Performed sensitivity analysis to determine the expected impact of lower oil prices on emerging markets • Assessed potential exit/ restructuring scenarios for Greece to form Barclays’ internal view of risk • Reviewed Angola’s country risk, ultimately downgrading exposure limits following pressure on oil prices Barclaycard (Graduate Scheme 1st Rotation & Internship) • Build quantitative models to better assess capital volatility in order to reduce capital requirements • Researched the potential for Fourier analysis to identify economic trends in large complex data sets

Education

University of Leeds

International Medical Sciences

01/09/2010

 

- 01/06/2014

University of Leeds: 2.1 BSc Hons International Medical Sciences, 2010-2014

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