Led by an experienced team of investment and operating professionals.

VALION’S Investment Committee has an average of 24+ years of industry experience. Together, our team has spent careers building businesses in Europe’s mid-market.

TEAM

Raja Hadji-Touma

Founder & Managing Partner - IC

Mr. Hadji-Touma is the Founder and Managing Partner at VALION and serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee. He is based in London. Mr. Hadji-Touma is a board member of Valion portfolio companies ZEDRA, Xceptor, IDnow, Axo, Redpin and MJM Holdings.

Prior to founding Valion, Mr. Hadji-Touma was a Partner at Corsair Capital, where he spent nearly two decades leading the European lower mid-market investment strategy across financial, business and technology-enabled services. From 1997 to 2000, concurrent with his investment responsibilities, Mr.Hadji-Touma served as a member of the Emerging Markets Financial Institutions group at J.P. Morgan, where he worked on a variety of transactions advising financial services companies and governments across Latin America and Asia. Prior to Corsair, Mr. Hadji-Touma served as an investment professional at Rhône Capital, a global buyout firm.

Mr. Hadji-Touma holds a B.S. in International Relations from Georgetown University.

Benjamin Phillips

Managing Director - IC

Mr. Phillips is the Managing Director at VALION. Mr. Phillips is a board member of MJM Holdings, Xceptor and IDnow.

Prior to joining VALION, Mr. Phillips was a Vice President at Lone Star Funds. Prior to Lone Star Funds, Mr. Phillips was an Associate at BC Partners, where he worked on a number of transactions within the business services vertical.

Mr. Phillips holds a B.Sc. in Philosophy & Economics from the London School of Economics and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Candice Wong

Principal

Ms. Wong is a Principal at VALION. Ms. Wong is a board member to VALION portfolio companies Redpin and Axo.

Prior to joining VALION, Ms. Wong was an Associate at Goldman Sachs in the Financial Institutions Group in London. While at Goldman Sachs, she advised European companies in the insurance, asset management, banking and specialty finance sectors on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising transactions.

Ms. Wong graduated from Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge with an M.A. (Hons.) in Economics.

Laurent Genthialon

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Genthialon is the Chief Financial Officer at VALION. Mr. Genthialon has over two decades of experience in senior corporate finance and leadership roles in the financial services industry, with expertise in private equity, M&A, corporate refinancing and business exits.

Prior to joining VALION, Mr. Genthialon worked for 10 years at NM Money Group where he was Head of European & Equity Projects, leading finance projects across end-to-end M&A deal transactions, tax restructuring and debt refinancing. Prior to NM, Mr. Genthialon was CFO and Board Member of H&T Group PLC, leading its successful transition from a privately-owned PE business to a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Before H&T, Mr. Genthialon held roles of Controller and Finance Director at Oddbins, where he led the strategic business integration and sale to Castel Group.

Mr. Genthialon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Université Lumière Lyon 2 and an MBA in Corporate Finance from EDHEC Business School.

May Lee-Shah

Chief Operating Officer

Ms. Lee-Shah is the Chief Operating Officer at VALION. Ms. Lee-Shah is responsible for the execution of the finance, facilities, IT, human talent and legal functions for VALION.

Prior to joining VALION, Ms. Lee-Shah was responsible for financial reporting, HR, compliance and operations at Riverstone Europe LLP. Previously, she was a Business Associate at Citigroup within the European Investment Bank, responsible for revenue accounting and first line management support. Ms. Lee-Shah holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business Management from the University of Applied Sciences Ludwigshafen.

Ms. Lee-Shah is a Chartered Certified Accountant and Fellow member of the ACCA.

Thomas Geraghty

Associate

Mr. Geraghty is an Associate at VALION.

Prior to joining Valion, Mr. Geraghty was an Investment Banking Associate in the EMEA Mergers & Acquisitions Group at UBS and Credit Suisse, advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising transactions with a focus on financial software and business services. Mr. Geraghty began his career as a Mergers and Acquisitions and Capital Markets lawyer at Linklaters in London.

Mr. Geraghty holds a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Business (Finance) from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Eduard Jansen

Associate

Mr. Jansen is an Associate at VALION.

Prior to joining VALION, Mr. Jansen was an Investment Banking Associate in the Global Industrials Group at Deutsche Bank, advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising transactions in the industrials space, with a focus on business services.

Mr. Jansen holds a BSc in Economics from the Erasmus School of Economics, a BSc in Industrial Design Engineering from the Delft University of Technology and an MSc in Financial Economics from ESE.

Yusuf Etuh

Business Analyst

Mr. Etuh is a Business Analyst at VALION.

Prior to joining VALION, Mr. Etuh worked at Deloitte & Touche as a Core Business Operations Consultant, leading technology and operational transformation programmes across multiple markets.

Mr. Etuh holds an MSc in Management from the London School of Economics and a BEng in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University.”

Kate Akkaya

Executive Assistant

Ms. Akkaya is a Senior Executive Assistant to the Founder and Managing Partner at VALION.

With more than 16 years of experience in the private equity and financial services sectors. Prior to joining Valion, Ms. Akkaya was at Goldman Sachs, supporting senior executives across a range of divisions.

Ms. Akkaya holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and Marketing from the University of Brighton.

Sophie Cosh

Executive Assistant

Ms. Cosh is Executive Assistant to the Managing Director and Investment team at VALION. She has 12 years of personal and executive assistant experience across private equity, finance and real estate, most recently at Bridgepoint and August Equity.

Ms. Cosh holds a B.A. (Hons.) in Conservation from University of the Arts, London.