The senior members of Cranmore Partners have been involved in almost every single water and power project financing in the Middle East and Africa region over the last 15 years. Having served in diverse roles as project developers, advisers to bidders or, procuring authorities, and as lenders, the Cranmore Executive Team brings to the table a uniquely well-rounded understanding of the project lifecycle. We will therefore provide you with pure unbiased analysis, and our recommendations will be geared towards achieving the most favourable outcome for your bid situation. As senior ex-bankers, we also bring unique insight into banks’ processes and considerations. Our sole mission is to achieve superior and differentiated capital terms for our clients on their strategic transactions across the power, water and wider infrastructure sectors.
Yusuf Macun
Managing Partner
Yusuf Macun has over 20 years’ experience in energy and infrastructure finance and investments, with a focus on the power, water, renewables and oil & gas verticals. His impressive track record includes the successful closing of cross-border deals in excess of c. USD 20bn over 35 transactions in a range of emerging and developed markets, particularly the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Before founding Cranmore Partners in 2017, Yusuf held a variety of leadership roles including Global Head of Project & Commercial Finance at Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA). and Head of Power &Renewables for Europe and Africa at HSBC London, where he advised governments and companies on a wide range of transactions across EMEA in verticals including wind, solar, coal/oil/gas-fired thermal and nuclear power generation. He also gained valuable transaction experience and expertise in prior roles at the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, Lazard and Flemings.
Yusuf is a graduate of HEC Paris (Grande Ecole) and holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering & Computer Science from ENSIMAG in Grenoble.
Richa has 17 years’ experience in energy and infrastructure project financing in the EMEA and Asia regions, with a particular focus on emerging markets and products utilising both debt and capital markets. Prior to joining Cranmore Partners, Richa was Executive Director and Head of Power, Utilities, Metals and Mining for the EMEA region at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). Richa has strong experience in financial structuring, debt underwriting and arranging, project and acquisition finance, derivatives structuring and managing specialist advisors during performance of due diligence roles.
During her tenure with SMBC, Richa successfully closed in excess of 40 transactions across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia in sectors ranging from power generation, water desalination, wastewater treatment, district cooling and air separation to metals and mining, regulated networks and the telecom sector. Prior to SMBC London, Richa worked with SMBC in Asia on various financial advisory transactions, including the Singapore power privatisation, advising sponsors on a light rail transport project in Manila and a water pipeline project between Indonesia and Singapore. Prior to SMBC, Richa worked in Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong and in India in the TMT sector on various M&A transactions.
Richa is a qualified Electrical Engineer from Delhi University and holds an MBA with specialisation in finance from the Indian Institute of Management.
Richa Prasad
Partner
Steven Barnes
Executive Director
Steven has over 18 years’ project finance experience in the energy and infrastructure sectors across Europe, Middle East and Africa. He has successfully closed in excess of 30 transactions, as either a financial advisor or lender.
Prior to joining Cranmore Partners, Steven was a Senior Director in the Power & Advisory Team at Mizuho Bank, London, with primary responsibility for all project finance lending and financial advisory activities in the power, water and wastewater sectors in the Middle East over the past 12 years.
Steven has led the financial advisory teams on some of the most groundbreaking transactions in the Middle East in recent years and most recently led the advisory teams (financial, legal and technical) advising Saudi Water Partnership Company on their Round 1 ISTP programme and National Water Company of Saudi Arabia on their proposed privatisation.
Steven holds Master of Financial Management, Graduate Diploma of Accounting and Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degrees from Central Queensland University. Steven is a CFA Charterholder.
Nick is an energy and infrastructure finance expert whose previous roles include being a director responsible for originating and executing European power and renewables business for the HSBC Project Finance team, working on over USD 40bn of projects. Nick has significant international experience in originating, advising, assessing, structuring and negotiating major project finance transactions for greenfield and operating projects across all classes of infrastructure, asset and lending sources throughout EMEA.
Within the power space, he has worked across a range of different technologies on renewables projects (onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass), thermal power projects (nuclear, gas, coal), and power infrastructure (inter-connectors, smart meters) with private and public clients.
Prior to HSBC, Nick trained and qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG in London working with financial services sector clients. Nick holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Bristol.
Nick Sinden
Executive Director
Kenny Whitelaw-Jones
Head of Financial Modelling
A co-founder of Cranmore, Kenny is one of the leading financial modelling experts in the global project finance market. He has trained over 1,000 modelers from the world’s leading commercial and investment banks, top-tier accounting firms, infrastructure funds and project developers. As a project finance practitioner for over 16 years, he is also a leading modeler on transactions and has played a significant role in the development of financial modelling standards over the past 10 years. He has made media appearances as a financial modelling expert on leading news and business channels including BBC, CNN, and CNBC.
He has served as Cranmore’s Head of Financial Modelling & Analysis since 2016 and has been CEO of the modelling consultancy Gridlines since September of 2018. Since the start of his tenure at Cranmore, Kenny has advised on a range of projects for clients including Joule Africa, Neoen, JGC Corporation, Trina Solar, Al Jomaih, CNIM, GIC, EdF EN and Masdar.
From 2011 to 2015 he was the managing director of F1F9, following the merger of his training business, Financial Mechanics, with F1F9 in 2010. During his time as the head of F1F9, he grew revenue by 300%.
Prior to Financial Mechanics, he was an Associate Director of Deloitte Corporate Finance from 2005 to 2007 and Manager of KPMG Corporate Finance between 2001 and 2005. Kenny holds an MBA with the High Honours Award from Université Libre de Bruxelles and an MA in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen.
Mrugank Inamdar has over 10 years of experience in energy and infrastructure development, financing, investments and M&A. He has led projects on both the sponsor and the financial advisory sides, managing transactions in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America.
Prior to joining Cranmore Partners, Mrugank was first a member of and then a consulting sector expert to the Investment Banking Team at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), focussed on the APAC region. At SMBC, he was instrumental in securing and executing mandates for major airport, road and renewable energy projects.
Prior to SMBC, Mrugank worked with VINCI Concessions in France, and supported project development, acquisition and financing for airport and road projects across Asia and Africa. Before that posting he also served as International Project Finance Director at Solairedirect (now Engie Solar), supporting development and overseeing financing for solar projects worldwide.
Mrugank holds an MBA (with Distinction) from INSEAD, a Masters degree in finance and economics from XLRI Jamshedpur and a Bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering from the University of Pune.
Mrugank Inamdar
Director
Roberto de Diego Arozamena
Senior Adviser
Roberto is an international executive with over 30 years of management, M&A, restructuring and transformation experience in the telecommunications, renewable energy, IT, industrial and infrastructure industries. In his role as President of BT Europe and President of Sales & Service for BT Ignite, Roberto was ran a EUR6.4 billion international business. He also led the transformation of multiple acquisitions into a single organization while carving out mobile telecommunications from the corporate business.
As CEO of BT Spain, he was named Best CEO of BT Europe and also achieved the highest employee motivation metrics in the BT Group. Roberto has established two startup companies and obtained the first positive financial results in the history of Jazztel (which was subsequently sold to Orange). He has experience in strategy, financing, continuous improvement, business development and high-level negotiations. Prior to joining Cranmore, he was responsible for the creation of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Environmental Services, where he led the acquisition of a leading renewable energy developer with a presence in 17 countries, as well as establishing a water desalination development company.
He has served as CEO at leading companies including ALJ Energy and Environmental Services (based in Dubai), Jazztel Plc, Spain, as well as serving as President of BT Europe, President of Sales and Services at BT Ignite and President for Europe Middle East and Africa at NCR Networking Solutions and Solfocus. Roberto holds an MBA from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. He serves on the boards of several companies and is a sought-after speaker at energy, telecommunications and financing forums.
A veteran senior executive, Mehmet spent over 20 years leading Turkey’s largest industrial ventures and conglomerates, with a particular focus on the energy and cement sectors. Specialising in corporate strategy, human resources for complex organisations, as well as generational transition strategies, Mehmet started his career in 1983. After assuming senior roles at steel and construction materials companies both in Turkey and globally, in 2003 he was appointed General Manager of Akçansa, the Heidelberg – Sabancı Holding JV and the largest cement manufacturer in Turkey.
This move marked the beginning of a long career at Sabancı Holding, one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, culminating with the role of CEO from March 2017 to July 2019. Majority-owned by the Sabancı family, Sabancı Holding and its 11 listed subsidiaries represent roughly 8% of the total market capitalization of the Turkish equity market. During his long tenure at Sabancı, Mehmet held numerous strategic roles including: Holding Head of Human Resources (2008-9); Holding Cement Group President (2009-14); Holding Energy Group President (2014-17); Holding CEO (2017-19). Born in 1957, Mehmet Göçmen is a Galatasaray High School alumnus. After graduating from Middle East Technical University with a BSc in Industrial Engineering, he earned an MSc from Syracuse University’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Operational Research.
Mehmet Göçmen
Senior Adviser
Peter Luketa
Senior Adviser
Peter has over 25 years of experience in project and export finance. He has managed and arranged finance for projects around world and has expertise in power (thermal, hydro, nuclear and renewable), transportation (rail, shipping, aircraft, bus rapid systems), infrastructure (roads, airports, ports, hospitals and real estate), telecommunications (including satellites and undersea cabling) and oil and gas (onshore and offshore including LNG).
He has worked with over 20 ECAs during his career, developing this product alongside debt capital markets, multilateral loan financing, Islamic debt financing and, more recently, equity participation. Prior to joining Cranmore Partners, Peter had a 40-year career with HSBC, culminating as Global Head of Export Finance and Forfaiting. In this position, he led HSBC’s franchise to the number one position in its industry for seven years running, achieving an annual volume of $10-12bn in ECA-backed financing per annum , equivalent to an impressive 10% market share.
Peter managed a team of over 70 Project and Export Finance professionals globally, including teams in London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Duesseldorf, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dubai, Tokyo and New York. His team pioneered many innovative ECA structures, including the first Islamic-based export credit, the first ECA-wrapped bond, the first renminbi and rouble financings and the first corporate structures in the UAE, Russia and China. Peter has built strong senior level contacts within various governments, investors, ECAs, corporates and financial institutions over his career. This has included discussing ECA finance with the US Treasury Department and the UK, French and German Treasuries. He has a proven record of negotiating special terms and conditions from ECAs and their respective Ministries in support of competitive project financing.
He is also highly experienced in leading ECA transactions on strategic projects located in “frontier jurisdictions”. Since leaving HSBC in 2017, Peter has held a board-level position with Anglo Gulf Trade Bank, a digitally-based trade finance bank headquartered in Abu Dhabi, whose principal shareholders are Mubadala and a private British concern. He is a linguist with a language and literature degree from Kingston upon Hull University (German and Dutch) and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Banking (UK).
Kurt has more than 15 years of experience in management consulting and transaction advisory, with a focus on the infrastructure sector in Southern Africa. He serves on the Board of Directors of a black-owned boutique management consultancy based in South Africa that is active in the areas of infrastructure, energy, telecoms and media.
Previously, he served as the Head of Strategy at Aveng Ltd, the leading infrastructure company in Africa, and was responsible for Aveng`s entry in the renewable energy sector (solar and wind projects) through a joint-venture with Accciona Energia. At Aveng, Kurt actively worked on a number of acquisitions throughout the group`s value chain with a focus on the Power and Water sectors in SSA and the Middle East. Prior to his tenure at Aveng, Kurt worked at McKinsey & Company, consulting for several blue-chip European companies in the financial, steel and telecom industries.
Kurt has a strong knowledge of and experience in strategy, corporate and project finance, corporate restructuring and digital and program management across a variety of different sectors including construction, manufacturing, water, telecom, oil&gas, power, engineering and steel. He holds a CFA, an MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Gent, a BSc in Industrial Engineering, and an MBA from the University of Brussels (Solvay).
