FAISAL ANWAR: GROUP CFO, IPO & M&A LEADER

Faisal Anwar is a highly accomplished Group CFO whose career spans more than 25 years of post-qualification experience across corporate finance, capital markets, and enterprise transformation. Based in Dubai, he is widely recognised for his ability to lead organisations through complexity, from IPO readiness and execution to large-scale M&A, financial restructuring, and long-term value creation within listed and highly complex environments.

At the core of Faisal’s leadership is deep expertise in IPO execution and capital markets. As Group CFO of a listed company, he has successfully led end-to-end IPO journeys, coordinating regulators, advisors, investors, and internal leadership teams to deliver disciplined, well-governed listings. His hands-on approach ensures not only regulatory compliance, but also strong equity stories, financial transparency, and investor confidence.

Faisal’s M&A experience spans the full transaction lifecycle. From identifying and engaging targets to valuation, structuring, negotiation, and rapid execution, he brings strategic clarity and commercial rigor to every deal. His focus remains firmly on sustainable value creation, ensuring acquisitions align with long-term business strategy rather than short-term growth optics.

What sets Faisal apart is his ability to integrate financial leadership with operational excellence. He has led large-scale cost optimisation initiatives, including offshoring and shared-services strategies that delivered up to 40% annual cost savings. By redesigning finance organisations into agile, high-impact verticals, he has strengthened governance while improving speed, accountability, and decision-making quality.

A strong advocate for digital transformation, Faisal has driven automation and system implementations that significantly reduced manual processes, enhanced reporting accuracy, and enabled real-time financial insights for leadership teams. His transformation programs are not technology-led alone, but anchored in process redesign and people enablement to ensure lasting impact.

Faisal also brings deep expertise in working capital optimisation, improving cash flow predictability, reducing aged receivables and inventory, and structuring innovative financing solutions with banking partners. His ability to balance liquidity, growth funding, and cost of capital has been critical in supporting seasonal business cycles and long-term expansion strategies.

Beyond technical excellence, Faisal is a strategic thinker with a board-level mindset, continuously seeking opportunities to strengthen governance, unlock efficiencies, and drive sustainable shareholder value. His leadership is defined by precision, resilience, and a calm ability to navigate high-stakes environments, making him a trusted advisor to boards, executives, and investors alike.

In an era where finance leaders are expected to be transformation catalysts, Faisal Anwar exemplifies what modern CFO leadership looks like: strategic, digitally fluent, value-driven, and relentlessly focused on building organisations that perform today while preparing for tomorrow.