Değer Şahbaz has more than 25 years of investment banking experience. He has played key roles in a variety of investment banking activities, including financial advisory services, mergers and acquisitions transactions, and capital markets projects. His experience spans a range of industries, including food and beverage, retail, tobacco, banking, telecommunications, textiles, paint, technology, media, and insurance. Before co-founding Pragma in 2002, he worked for Global Securities. Değer holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Boğaziçi University and an MBA from Koç University.
Ömer Bilhan has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking. He has successfully completed numerous cross-border mergers and acquisitions transactions for international and Turkish companies in various industries, including power, banking, paper and packaging, steel, cement, and construction materials. Before co-founding Pragma in 2002, Ömer worked for Global Securities and Shell Oil Company. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Middle East Technical University and an MBA from Purdue University in the United States.
Şükrü Barlass has more than 25 years of experience in investment banking. He has participated in various transactions, including privatization, mergers & acquisitions, capital markets advisory, and other financial advisory services. Şükrü has provided advice to both private and public sector clients across a range of industries, including energy and utilities, natural resources and chemicals, metals and mining, food and retail, and financial institutions. Before joining Pragma in 2007, he worked for Global Securities and Finansbank. Şükrü has an MBA degree from Koc University and a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Istanbul Technical University.
Özlü Yalaza has 25 years of experience in investment banking. Throughout his career, he has been involved in various projects, including mergers & acquisitions advisory, financial restructuring, privatization, floatation, and various capital markets products. Özlü has extensive experience in several industries, including construction materials, logistics, energy, food, and chemicals. Before co-founding Pragma, he worked for Global Securities, Dundas, Ünlü & Co., and Finansbank. Özlü holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Boğazici University and an MBA degree with a focus in finance from the University of Texas at Austin in the United States.
Mustafa Akgün has 25 years of experience in investment banking. Throughout his career, he has participated in various projects, including mergers & acquisitions advisory, private placements, privatization, and structured equity products. Mustafa has extensive experience in several industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, insurance, food, and construction materials. Before co-founding Pragma, he worked for Global Securities. Mustafa holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Boğazici University, an MBA degree with a focus in finance, and an MS degree in Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in the United States.
Saltuk Buğra Akbulut has more than 20 years of experience in investment banking. He has worked across a range of industries, including electricity generation and distribution, packaging, paper, steel, chemicals, mining, consumer products, and banking. Prior to co-founding Pragma, he worked for Global Securities and Boğaziçi University. He holds dual degrees in Industrial Engineering, a BS and MS, from Boğaziçi University.
Ahmet Noyaner has 20 years of experience in investment banking. He joined Pragma in 2015 after spending 7 years in London as an investment banker at Dresdner Kleinwort and Citigroup, where he focused on the power and utilities sector across EMEA and advised clients on mergers & acquisitions and equity capital market transactions. Prior to this, Ahmet worked for Global Securities, focusing on mergers and acquisitions in a variety of industries, including energy, metals & mining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare. Ahmet holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Boğaziçi University and worked for ENKA in Moscow for 6 years before earning his MBA from Yale University in the United States.
Sultan Pınar Kavukcuoğlu has more than 15 years of investment banking experience, with a focus on industries such as food and beverage, retail, FMCG, logistics, healthcare and medical, insurance, machinery and equipment, and call center. Prior to joining Pragma in 2006, she received a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Istanbul Technical University in Turkey and an MBA from Insituto de Empresa in Spain.
Can is a highly accomplished entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the manufacturing industry. He was the CEO and leading shareholder of Vansan, a market-leading manufacturer of submersible pumps and motors in the EMEA region. Can played a pivotal role in driving the company's growth for 26 years and successfully exited through successive sales to a private equity fund in 2017 and a Japanese conglomerate in 2021. Can contributes to Pragma’s business development efforts in M&A advisory and investments targeted to manufacturing industry. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dokuz Eylül University.
Sertaç has three decades of experience as a financial sector executive in Unicredit, management consultant at Bain & Company and venture capital partner in Europe and Asia. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Zingforce Ventures, a firm specialized in venture building and advisory based in Singapore. He is also the Co-founder and General Partner of Purpose Venture Capital early-stage fund investing in sustainable technologies in Asia. Sertac is an investor, executive manager and non-executive director for numerous start-ups in Italy, Korea, Singapore, Turkey and in Southeast Asia. He also advises family offices and family businesses in intergenerational transition and sustainable investments. Sertaç contributes to Pragma’s business development efforts and strategies around growth equity and buyout investments in fast-growing, export-oriented and tech-enabled companies. He holds an undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from Swarthmore College and a graduate degree in International Economic Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies.