The Team
Michael Saran, Managing Partner
Mr. Saran is the founder of Odien. In addition to being the Managing Partner of
Odien Mr. Saran is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AVIA, a.s. and
the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Čedok a.s. Prior to founding Odien Mr.
Saran served as the Chairman of the Investment Committee and the CEO of the Czech
Revitalization Agency (RA), a corporate restructuring vehicle responsible for managing
assets over CZK 40 bn ($2bn). At the RA he was responsible for building the organization
and managing the overall restructuring program. Prior to the RA, Mr. Saran served
as the Managing Director for Latona Associates of Europe, LLC, an American private
investment and advisory firm which he joined in 1997. He established the company’s
European office in Prague in 1998. Prior to his MBA, Mr. Saran worked for Coopers
& Lybrand in Frankfurt, Germany, where he advised primarily state-owned companies
and governments in Central and Eastern Europe. He graduated from Stanford University
in 1991 with two B.A degrees in Economics and International Relations and received
his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997. Mr. Saran is also a Board Member of
the Harvard Club of Prague, a non-profit organization. He is fluent in Turkish and
German and has also mastered the basics of Czech.
Brian Wilson, Senior Partner
A founding partner of Odien, Mr. Wilson is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
of AVIA a.s. and is also the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Čedok a.s.
Prior to the founding of Odien, Mr. Wilson served as a Director at the Czech Revitalization
Agency (RA) overseeing the restructurings of Zetor a.s. and Vitkovice a.s. He also
oversaw the financial restructuring Zastava Motor Vehicles of Serbia. Previous to
this, he spent one year as a gas derivatives trader at Southern Energy in Atlanta
and three years as a trader of adjustable-rate mortgages at Salomon Brothers on
their MBS Trading Desk in New York. Prior to his MBA, Mr. Wilson worked three years
with HVB Bank in their Corporate Finance Group in Munich and New York focusing on
corporate financings and M&A in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. Previous to
this, he worked in various roles in fixed-income securities syndicate for Deutsche
Bank AG and Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York and Germany. Mr. Wilson graduated
summa cum laude in 1991 from the University of California, Los Angeles with B.S.
degrees in Business Economics and Applied Mathematics. He also received an MBA with
honors from Harvard Business School in 1997. He is fluent in German and is conversant
in Czech.
Ömer Müftüler, Partner
Mr. Müftüler manages Odien’s Istanbul office and he is a member of the Board of
Directors of S-Yayincilik, AVIA, a.s. and Čedok a.s.
Mr Müftüler established Odien’s Istanbul office in 2004 and has been leading Odien’s
efforts in Turkey since that time. He managed the investment process for Odien’s
investment in S Yayincilik, a leading radio group in Turkey. Prior to joining Odien,
Mr. Müftüler co-founded an IP-based telecom start-up in Turkey. He worked at Enron
Corp in Houston and London on development, acquisitions and divestiture of energy
and broadband assets in North and Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Prior
to this, he worked on sale of state-owned assets at the Privatization Administration
of the Turkish Government. Mr. Müftüler holds dual B.A. degrees from Bogazici University
in Istanbul, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. In addition to his
native Turkish, he is fluent in English and conversant in German.
Tomáš Tatyrek, Investment Associate
Mr. Tatyrek has been with Odien since it was founded in 2001. He is the Chairman
of the Supervisory Board of Čedok a.s and is a member of the Supervisory Board of AVIA, a.s.
Prior to Odien, Mr. Tatyrek was an analyst with Latona Associates of Europe since
1998. At Latona, he was project manager for the bankruptcy sale of ZPS Zlin, a Czech
machine tool manufacturer, and was involved in the restructuring and sale of the
TATRA, a.s., a vertically-integrated heavy truck manufacturer in Koprivnice, Czech
Republic. At Latona, Mr. Tatyrek also analyzed a number of investment opportunities
in various sectors including transportation, machine building, pharmaceuticals and
cable. Prior to Latona, Mr. Tatyrek worked as an equity research analyst first for
Ballmaier & Schultz and then for Pioneer Investment Company. Mr. Tatyrek has a BA
in Economics from Silezian University and a Master’s degree in Finance from the
Prague School of Economics. He is a native Czech speaker who is fluent in English
and Slovak and conversant in Russian.
Tomáš Brejcha, Marketing & Communications Director
Mr. Brejcha became Odien’s Marketing & Communications Director in the Fall of 2008.
Before joining Odien, he held a similar position in the travel corporation Čedok.
He is, at the same time, media advisor to the company BT Golf. Mr. Brejcha began
working for the biggest travel agency in the country in 2002 as a Marketing Manager
and Public Relations Officer. In 2004, he was appointed the travel agency’s Marketing
Director. At that time, he contributed, as advisor, to the marketing strategy of
the low-cost airline Smart Wings. Before joining Čedok, he worked for CS Crossland,
a company that had been active in the exhibition industry and that had represented
the British company International Trade and Exhibitions J/V Ltd. Mr. Brejcha graduated
from the University of Economics, Prague (Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze). In addition
to this native Czech, he is fluent in English, and speaks some Spanish.
Erkin Solak, Analyst
Mr. Solak joined Odien in the Fall of 2008. Mr. Solak was formerly at JPMorgan Chase
Investment Banking division in London, focusing on mergers and acquisitions in telecom,
media and technology sectors in Europe, Middle East and the Africa region. He previously
held positions as an analyst or intern with JPMorgan Chase in Istanbul, 3Seas Capital
Partners and OYAK Securities. Erkin has BA in Economics from Sabanci University
in Istanbul and is a second-year MBA student at Koc University in Istanbul.
He is native Turkish speaker, fluent in English and conversant in German.
Jan Buček, Controller
Since 2005 Mr. Buček has been serving as AVIA’s Finance Director. As an executive
director, he also manages AVIA Finance, s.r.o., a special purpose vehicle designed
and created in 2005 to fund production at AVIA, a.s. a Czech producer of vehicles.
Prior to joining Odien in 2004, Mr. Buček was the Finance Manager for Revitalizační
Traktor s.r.o., since 2002, a special purpose vehicle designed and created by the
Czech Revitalization Agency in 1999 to fund production at Zetor, a.s. a Czech producer
of tractors. Mr. Buček started his professional career at KPMG in the audit department
and later worked in the consulting department. He graduated from Masaryk University
in 1997 with a Master`s degree in Economics. He also received a 1 year scholarship
from the EU to study at the University of Economics in Verona, Italy. In addition
to his native Czech, Mr. Buček is fluent in English, Italian and Slovak and is conversant
in German, Spanish, and Russian.
Tomáš Ptáček, General Counsel
Mr. Ptáček is a lawyer specialized in M&A and real estate, and is a member of the
Czech Bar Association. Prior to joining Odien in 2007, he worked for four years
in Felix & spol, a Czech law firm. He is a recognized real estate lawyer in the
Czech Republic. Mr. Ptáček is a graduate of the Charles University in Prague, Law
Faculty and regularly lectures on commercial and real estate law. He is a native
Czech speaker and is fluent in English and Slovak.
Zdenka Pražáková, Office Manager
Ms. Pražáková became Odien’s Office Manager in October 2005. Before joining Odien,
she was studying Business English in the UK. Ms. Pražáková is a graduate from the
University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice. She is a native Czech speaker and
is fluent in English.