WHO WE ARE
We are performance-driven.
We adhere to our values.
We work with passion.
We always aim to improve.
OVERVIEW
9.6mn sq ft commercial
real estate
London, Paris, Frankfurt,
Miami and Dubai
11 nationalities
The Team
EXECUTIVE TEAM
“We thrive in a business environment that
promotes diversity, inclusion, agility and
excellence. Our dedicated team is our most
valued asset and actively contributes to our
success and growth. We take pride in having
attracted highly capable and multicultural
talents across 6 jurisdictions”
Executive Director
Mohamad is the CEO of SFO Capital Partners. He is also a member of SFO’s Board of Directors and its ESG Committee, and chairs the firm’s Executive and Investment Committees. Mohamad has been leading all aspects of the firm’s development since 2013.
With over 18 years of experience, Mohamad has been involved in more than USD15 billion of transactions in both advisory and principal roles across the real estate, hospitality and financial services sectors. Prior to joining SFO, Mohamad held positions at Kingdom Hotel Investments, JLL and Gulf Merger where he advised and acted on behalf of institutional investors and family offices on cross border transactions including mergers and acquisitions, direct investments and asset management.
Mohamad holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and Hospitality Management from the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland.
Tarek is the Chief Investment Officer at SFO Capital Partners and a member of its Investment Committee, Management Committee and ESG Committee. He is responsible for overseeing all transactions as well as deal sourcing, debt origination and expansion into new sectors and markets and has been instrumental in the expansion of the firm’s portfolio across Europe and the USA.
Tarek has over 16 years of experience and has been involved in more than USD24 billion of transactions in both advisory and principle roles across the real estate and lodging industry. Prior to joining SFO, Tarek held different positions at Orion Capital Managers, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup covering real estate private equity and corporate finance.
Tarek holds a Diploma Grande Ecole from HEC Paris.
Benjamin is the Chief Operating Officer of SFO Capital Partners and a member of its Investment Committee and Management Committee. He is responsible for widening SFO’s investor base, contributing to deal sourcing, managing the interface with operating partners, and leading the portfolio management function focused on unlocking value throughout the investments’ lifecycle. In addition, Benjamin is Head of Germany, responsible for all aspects of business execution domestically.
Benjamin has over 19 years of diverse and in-depth sector experience across the entire real estate investment lifecycle. He has been involved in the successful origination of new business at a cumulated total above USD4 billion in value and has taken the profit & loss and asset management responsibility for various portfolios in the segment between USD100 million and USD500 million (AUM). Prior to joining SFO in 2021, Benjamin held positions in large-scale organizations like Daimler, Corpus Sireo and, lastly, Swiss Life Asset Managers.
Benjamin holds a Master (“Dipl.-Ing.”) in Urban Planning from TU Dortmund University. Since 2011 he is lecturing at the International Real Estate Business School (IREBS) in Regensburg (Germany).
Ahmed is the Chief Financial Officer of SFO Capital Partners and a member of its Investment Committee and Management Committee. He assumes overall responsibility for all finance-related activities of the firm and oversees all corporate controlling, accounting and tax matters, as well as deal-related structuring, legal and fiscal considerations.
Ahmed has over 15 years of experience. Prior to joining SFO, he held senior finance positions at Azadea Group Holding, one of the largest retail groups in the Middle East, where he was responsible for the financial consolidation and reporting covering 14 countries and representing annual sales of c.USD2 billion. Previously, Ahmed worked at GulfMerger in Kuwait and was involved in more than 15 regional mid-market mergers and acquisitions exceeding USD800 million in aggregate value.
Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a finance focus from the American University of Beirut.
Head of US Program
Head of US Program
Ziyad leads SFO Capital Partners’ US Housing Investment program and is responsible for the origination and maintenance of all strategic relationships with operating partners and lenders in the USA. In addition, Ziyad is involved in all the underwriting and asset management functions of the US multi-housing investments.
Having spent the past 15 years in the US, he has completed over USD1.2 billion in multifamily housing acquisitions, comprising 30 assets with more than 10,000 units across seven states. Prior to that, Ziyad held senior positions in large corporations in the USA, Europe and the Middle East.
Ziyad holds a Master Degree from Columbia University and is an Advisory Committee Member at the National Multifamily Housing Council; the industry’s prime trade organisation in the USA.
Head of Investor Relations
Head of Investor Relations
Zeina is a Managing Director at SFO Capital Partners, Head of Investor Relations and a member of its ESG Committee. She leads the investor relations function and is responsible for investor coverage, including equity raising activities with a focus on family offices and HNWIs in the Middle East.
Zeina has over 17 years of experience. Prior to joining SFO in 2016, she was with the Portfolio Management Team at Growthgate Equity Partners, a Dubai-based private equity firm overseeing a USD500 million portfolio of private companies. Previously, Zeina held positions at Nomura in the Equity Derivatives division and HSBC within the Structured Products team.
Zeina holds a Master in Management with emphasis in Finance from ESSEC Business School in Paris and a Bachelor in Engineering in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Beyrouth (ESIB).
Guillaume is a Senior Advisor for SFO Capital Partners based in Paris, France. In his role, Guillaume contributes to the implementation of the firm’s growth strategy in Europe with a focus on France.
Guillaume has over 18 years of experience in the real estate industry and has held senior positions at AEW and CBRE Global Investors from 2006 to 2017. During his tenure at AEW, he was the Head of Asset Management for Commercial Offices, managing a Pan-European portfolio of c. EUR7 billion. He was also a member of the firm’s European Management Committee and is a fellow member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Guillaume holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from ESTP School as well as a Master’s Degree in Finance and Real Estate from Paris Dauphine University.
Peter has joined SFO Capital Partners in 2015 as a Project Management Director responsible for sourcing and overseeing the development of real estate projects in the UK.
Peter has over 30 years of experience in financial structuring, acquisition and disposal of UK commercial and residential properties as well as in construction and development. Peter has advised and acted on behalf of HNWIs, family offices and institutions.
Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from Trent University Nottingham.
Lama is responsible for the acquisition and management of US real estate assets. Since joining SFO Capital Partners in 2016, Lama has completed acquisitions of real estate assets totalling in excess of USD600 million and is currently overseeing a portfolio comprising more than 4,000 multifamily and student housing units across multiple US states.
Prior to joining SFO, Lama held finance and investment positions at Webedia and The Resource Group, a global diversified investment holding headquartered in Beirut.
Lama holds a MSc in Finance from the American University of Beirut.
Philippe is responsible for the acquisition and management of real estate assets in Europe. Since joining SFO Capital Partners in 2015, Philippe has completed acquisitions of real estate assets totalling in excess of USD500 million located in Germany, France and the UK. He is currently overseeing a portfolio comprising of more than 1.5 million sqft of commercial and residential real estate.
Philippe holds an MBA from INSEAD and an MSc in Civil Engineering and Business Management from Imperial College London.
Malek joined SFO Capital Partners in 2022 as part of the Finance team. Malek is actively involved in all finance-related activities of the firm’s European portfolio companies, including structuring, financing as well as fiscal and statutory matters.
Prior to joining SFO, Malek held senior finance and investment management positions within French institutional management companies with multi-billion assets under management, including Twenty First Capital, AFER (Association Française d’Epargne et de Retraite) and Rothschild & Cie Gestion.
Malek holds a Ph.D. in Financial Management from the University of Paris II (awarded the University Research Thesis Prize in 2015), a Master’s Degree in Financial Techniques and the Magistère Banque Finance from the same university.
Maya joined SFO Capital Partners in 2019 as an Executive Assistant. She is responsible for providing direct support to the CEO in addition to overseeing general office operations and expenses management, as well as coordinating travel and logistics. Maya also assists the Investor Relations team with matters relating to all compliance, AML and KYC, as well as reporting and consolidation activities.
Maya holds a Bachelor degree in Business and Management from Saint-Joseph University of Beirut.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY
AND INCLUSION
Embracing diversity and promoting equal opportunity by empowering
our people and developing their capabilities. We are a diverse team spread
across continents and we continuously work on promoting internal and
geographical mobility. As we evolve and grow, we attract the right talent to
expand our team while offering increasing opportunities for our people
to gain experience, continue to learn and develop their skills across
departments and disciplines.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mario is the Chairman of SFO Capital Partners, as well as the Chairman & CEO of Saradar Capital Holding, a third generation family owned international strategic holding group, with over 2,000 employees which focuses on active investments across financial services, real estate and private equity.
Since taking over the family business in 1992, Mario has been a seasoned investor and serial entrepreneur. He has been involved in the establishment, acquisition and management of multiple commercial and private banks, as well as insurance companies and other financial services firms across the MENA region and Europe.
Mario is an active philanthropist and has founded in 2000 Fondation Saradar, a charity organization which has a history in supporting education, sports, as well as culture and arts. In addition, in 2012 Mario launched the Saradar Collection which is aimed at preserving and sharing modern and contemporary art from Lebanon with the rest of the world.
Outside of work, Mario is an avid Marathon runner and a triathlete, having completed five major marathons around the world.
Mario holds a B.S. in Economics from UCL London.
Executive Director
Executive Director
Mohamad is the CEO of SFO Capital Partners. He is also a member of SFO’s Board of Directors and its ESG Committee, and chairs the firm’s Executive and Investment Committees. Mohamad has been leading all aspects of the firm’s development since 2013.
With over 18 years of experience, Mohamad has been involved in more than USD15 billion of transactions in both advisory and principal roles across the real estate, hospitality and financial services sectors. Prior to joining SFO, Mohamad held positions at Kingdom Hotel Investments, JLL and Gulf Merger where he advised and acted on behalf of institutional investors and family offices on cross border transactions including mergers and acquisitions, direct investments and asset management.
Mohamad holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and Hospitality Management from the Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland.
Independent Director
Independent Director
Audrey brings to SFO Capital Partners a diverse array of knowledge and experience in real estate investments, having worked at Park Hill Real Estate, the European capital-raising subsidiary of Blackstone, where she founded the firm’s continental Europe business. Before joining Park Hill, Audrey ran her own business for five years marketing alternative asset funds across all asset classes to European investors.
Audrey began her career at Bank of America and has worked for funds in Germany and the UK for the last 25 years, including Caskar Partners, Cromwell Property Group and Kennedy Wilson.
Audrey is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business where she received an MBA and is an Economics graduate of Emory University. Based in London, Audrey sits on the Corporate Advisory Board for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Independent Director
Independent Director
Joe is a former Partner and Chairman of Strategy&’s (formerly Booz & Company) Middle East business, with over 30 years of consulting experience in strategic, organizational, and restructuring services. Over the years, he has led major privatization programs in sectors such as oil and gas, mining, steel and electricity. He advised Middle East governments on sector deregulation and sector policy and led the reorganization of national oil companies and large corporations. He also works closely with large family-owned companies to help design governance and portfolio strategies.
Joe holds an MBA from Cornell University (USA) and a Bachelor of Business Administration from ESSEC (France).
Independent Director
Independent Director
Antonia is a former Partner at Fladgate LLP and is currently a Partner at GunnerCook LLP. She advises on two major areas of law. Firstly, on the acquisition, development, funding and letting of commercial property. She specializes in property development work, all residential, commercial and mixed use.
Secondly, Antonia advises in the realm of private wealth especially for offshore high-net-worth individuals with complex vehicles. Antonia also works with the private capital group to advise on IHT, SDLT and tax efficient structuring for property transactions. Antonia has regularly been featured in the Legal 500 and the Surveyors 500 as being a “leading practitioner” in the commercial property field.
Antonia holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from University College London.
Independent Director
Independent Director
Michael is a board member of SFO Capital Partners. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate advisory and cross-border investment transactions, gained initially at JLL, and through established partnerships and associations with Cushman & Wakefield and King Sturge in Luxembourg.
Founder and chief executive of RealCorp, a Luxembourg-based advisory firm, Michael is also a non-executive director with confirmed board-level experience in private and listed real estate funds. He currently serves on the boards of sovereign wealth, investment, and development funds in the UK and Luxembourg.
Michael holds an MSt in real estate from the University of Cambridge, a master’s in finance from IE Business School and an MA in Property Valuation and Law from City University, London.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The Corporate Governance model is a key focus area inside SFO Capital
Partners. We have the ambition to run our company at the highest
standards of decision-making quality and efficiency. We trust that well defined
committee responsibilities, various independent non-executive members
of the Board of Directors and unambiguous interfaces between the
operational functions are crucial success factors.
OUR ESG STRATEGY
At SFO Capital Partners, we strongly believe that taking strategic action
and integrating environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) principles
across our business and property portfolio have become crucial in order
to protect and enhance value for all our stakeholders.
Ensuring negative environmental impacts are minimised during the investment lifecycle
Positively impacting our community and local surroundings by improving the health and wellbeing of all stakeholders at the levels of the Firm and the property portfolio
Nimble and agile, ensuring efficient decision-making. Creating sustainable long-term value ethically and with full transparency