Barakat Group CFO Amit Mehta steps down

Amit Mehta has stepped down as Group Chief Financial Officer of Barakat Group of Companies after six years in the role, marking the end of his tenure with the UAE-based business.

Mehta joined Barakat Group in September 2020 after previously working in investment banking and investments. In a LinkedIn post announcing his departure, he said he had decided to move on after six years as Group CFO and would take a short break before his next move.

During his tenure, Mehta led a finance transformation spanning people, processes, systems and governance. His work included restructuring the finance function, establishing centralised shared services, developing management information systems and introducing automation and data analytics across the organisation.

He said the transformation also released more than AED100 million in working capital, supported joint ventures and business expansions and delivered operational savings.

According to his professional profile, Mehta helped reduce receivable days from 104 to 68 and implemented a new enterprise resource planning system and real-time dashboards. He also led efforts to deleverage the company’s balance sheet.

Beyond the finance function, Mehta was involved in Barakat’s manufacturing business in 2025, where he said the business delivered a 15% increase in EBITDA in the first year. He also led capacity expansion through new factories, warehouses and distribution centres, doubling capacity, and supported joint ventures covering Saudi Arabia and the baby food sector.

Before joining Barakat Group, Mehta spent nearly six years as Investment Director at Alabbar Enterprises, the private investment office of Emaar founder Mohamed Alabbar. He was involved in investment strategy, corporate finance and transactions, including the acquisition of Americana.

Earlier in his career, Mehta worked in M&A advisory at Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai and investment banking at Morgan Stanley in Mumbai and London. His experience spans mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, private equity transactions and capital raising.

Alongside his corporate roles, Mehta is a co-founder and mentor at Canopy Capital and serves on the board of Bounce Middle East.

Reflecting on his Barakat tenure, Mehta credited the company’s people for delivering the transformation and highlighted excellence, trust, integrity and continuous improvement as principles that shaped the team.

“The lesson I take with me is that culture decides whether strategy gets executed,” he said in his LinkedIn post, adding that the team had created an environment where employees could experiment with new ideas without fear of failure.

Mehta has not yet announced his next professional move.