Finance Monthly M&A Awards Winners Edition

FINANCE MONTHLY M&A AWARDS 2020 59 a number of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) entities as part of the group’s Chapter 11 proceedings. He successfully sold Banque Lehman Brothers, Lehman Brothers Asset Management France and Italy and handled, through Sauvegarde proceedings, the equity held by LBHI in the Cœur Défense RE transaction and one of its largest and most complex securitizations (over €1.6bn). In addition, Charles led the disposal of a €100m Italian RE portfolio that Lehman Brothers had as a JV while acting as executive board member of the holding company. In addition to capital raises and disposals, Charles is an expert in the areas of Restructuring, Asset acquisitions / disposals, Debt restructurings, restructuring Securitizations and Structured finance transactions. In addition, he has held a number of CRO and interim board positions. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned an MBA from the Institut Supérieur de Gestion. A Belgian national, Mr. Thoma is fluent in French, English and Spanish, has a working knowledge of Italian and speaks a rusty Russian. FIRM PROFILE Cognitive Corporate Finance is a cutting-edge, technology-enhanced, Big Data-powered third millennium merchant advisory firm Through an intimate knowledge of investors’ needs, as well as through unparalleled contacts, we bring our clients the most relevant advice, the optimal financial solution and the best and fastest service in finding capital or strategic partners for their corporate requirements Why do we describe ourselves in this way? Cognitive: because we base all our approaches on how well we know the counterparties to a transaction. Cutting-Edge: because we can make connections other firms cannot, and we can hit investor targets most other firms do not see. Technology-Enhanced: because we recognize that our brains need an exo-skeleton to work on a global scale. Big Data-Powered: because with over 200,000 institutional investors in the world, if you don’t power yourself with data fuel, it is unlikely you will be able to retain all the criteria that drive investors’ investment decisions. ABOUT CHARLES THOMA Charles Thoma is managing partner and founder of Cognitive Corporate Finance. Charles started his career with KPMG’s Corporate Strategy group in London in 1993, where he advised large European companies on international expansion, market reviews and corporate development plans. In 1999, he moved to Paris to help set up KPMG’s Strategy group, where he advised a number of French clients such as: Pierre & Vacances, Maison de la France, RATP and La Poste on strategy and reorganization issues. In 2000, he transferred to KPMG’s Restructuring group, which subsequently became Kroll Talbot Hughes and where he stayed until 2008. Charles advised a variety of European corporations, investment banks and PE houses on stressed and distressed situations relative to their investments. For two years he worked with OCP, a large, 18,000-employee, Moroccan mining group to regain control of its underperforming activities, to restructure its balance sheet and to address a wide range of problems associated with subsidiaries and JVs in other continents. Simultaneously, Charles worked on a range of operational restructuring, bankruptcy, and ailing structured finance and securitization projects. These included: leading the contingency planning and crisis management efforts for Gate Gourmet in the UK as part of its turnaround and return to profitability; assisting with Swiss Air’s exit from AOM, Air Liberté and Air Littoral through formal bankruptcy proceedings; and developing exit, restructuring and redundancy plans for foreign corporations operating in the French market. In 2008, Charles joined Alvarez & Marsal, where he led the crisis management and stabilization efforts of