2019 Global CFO Excellence Awards

20 Acquisition International - 2019 Global CFO Excellence Awards Action Group Holdings Co is privately owned investment conglomerate operating across a wide range of industries including real estate, hospitality, construction and infrastructure management, oil services, and IT businesses. To celebrate his win in this year’s Global CFO Awards Chief Financial Officer Vikas Arora talks us through how he came to work with this dynamic and diverse group. Action Group Holdings Co hen it first began, Action focused on real estate, subsequently expanding into hospitality business with mid- segment hotels, primarily partnering with Accor brands such as Ibis, Ibis Styles, Novotel and Mercure. Being in the mid-segment category of hotels and real estate has proven immensely successful for the group. The promoters of the group had rightly identified a gap in the mid-segment branded hotels niche, which led to the first two Ibis Hotels being opened in Kuwait and Melbourne. Since its establishment, it has expanded to 14 hotels in the Middle East and Australia. From humble beginnings, the group has flourished into the globally renowned thought-leader it is today. Headquartered in Kuwait, Action now boasts presence in over 10 countries across the Middle East, Europe, the UK and Australia. Such an internationally respected company requires the support of an expert CFO to drive it to excellence. Vikas shared his vast past two decades’ industry experience with us. “Action has provided me with a wonderful platform to be part of an amazing growth story of such a professional and international group. The group is diversified yet focused on its long term vision and strategy, and ensures best international practices are implemented across the board and functions. It employs people from over 20 different nationalities thus providing a good mix of cultures and environment.” Prior to joining Action, Vikas was the Group Financial Controller of Alshaya group of companies: the leading retailer in the region with over 80 international brands, in over 17 countries. Vikas recalls his experience at Alshaya. “As head of group finance, and working for a family owned yet internationally diversified business group, my role was varied enough to provide me across the board experience in the field of corporate finance – fromgroup consolidations for over 80 companies and different currencies, to international taxation, and to being part of the team for implementation of family governance structure for the shareholders. Spending a decade at Alshaya was phenomenal in providing me the right experience for working at a senior position in a large international company that employed people from diverse backgrounds.” W Going back even further, Vikas was leading his own private consulting and audit practice in India. Vikas values these early years’ experience to the core, saying: “my clients included industrialists, retailers, from medium and large enterprises. I believe my earlier days of consulting, working closely with business owners, gave me the optimal business experience. I have continued to enhance this knowledge and grow as a professional over the years, and I still draw on my prior experience in my role at Action.” In his current role as Action Group’s CFO, Vikas and his team of more than 30 finance experts operate across a range of business sectors. The group has recently expanded its enterprise into the oil business, and presently having over $700m worth of contracts into various services such as oil rigs, coil tubing and cementing. Seeing this diversification, Vikas and his team also shoulder a variety of responsibilities, from accounting and group consolidations, to managing central treasury, banking relationships, international tax, to assessing new investment opportunities. None of this would be possible without an expert team, and Vikas is committed to supporting each member of his team to facilitate their best performance. He reflects on his own role as a leader and how this has helped steer his team to success. “I would consider myself an 'inclusive' leader: I ensure that my team is involved in various aspects of any project, and that each individual’s contribution is integral. Each member should feel and know that they are important for the business and growth, which will encourage them to collaborate towards a common goal. I firmly believe that a team has to stay motivated to provide results, and this is the responsibility of the team leader.” On his view on the challenges and opportunities for the businesses in recent times, he says the answer lies in the question itself. “The challenge today is that there are too many opportunities, so one must carefully chose to where the capital is deployed intelligently and after due research and diligence. The second challenge is to hiring and retention of good people, so once we have them, we should invest in their learning and motivation.” Alternative Investments CFO of the Year 2019 - Middle East & Best Real Estate Investments Firm 2019 - Middle East