Building Category Leaders: Why Great Companies Create Their Own Exits

Dany Farha speaking at the 2025 Private Capital Forum
Dany Farha, Co-founder & Managing Partner of BECO Capital, emphasized the exit landscape in the GCC continues to evolve.

Investors and Founders Across MENA are Redefining What Successful Exits Look Like. 

Dany Farha recently joined a panel on exit strategies at the 2025 Private Capital Forum in Riyadh, with Abdulaziz Alomran (Impact46), Muhannad Qubbaj (Olive Rock Partners), Walid Majdalani (Investcorp Capital), moderated by Al Arabiya’s Fatima Daoui.

Category Leaders Don’t Wait for Exits, They Create Them

Dany’s message to the audience was direct: enduring exits are built on the back of enduring companies.

“You don’t build to sell. You build so well that people line up to buy.”

He explained that the correlation between the expected buyer at the time of investment and the actual buyer at exit is “close to zero.” Over a 5 to 10 year horizon, markets shift, business models evolve, and new acquirers appear. The only constant is quality – resilient, profitable, defensible category leaders.

That’s why BECO’s philosophy centers on building optionality, not dependency on any single exit path.

Exits Are a Process, Not an Event

For early-stage venture capital firms, exits aren’t a one-off moment – they’re a continuous process. 

As Dany outlined, BECO manages DPI (Distributions to Paid-In) and IRR (Internal Rate of Return) through programmatic liquidity: selling down positions as portfolio companies achieve predetermined return thresholds.

This model demands transparency with founders from day one. Liquidity events are driven by the fund’s structure, not by a lack of conviction. Founders remain supported while BECO ensures responsible returns for its LPs.

The Exit Toolkit: Built with the Ecosystem

Over the years, BECO’s exit toolkit has grown alongside the regional venture ecosystem.

  • Share Buybacks: Companies such as Property Finder and Fresha leveraged strong margins to repurchase BECO’s shares – allowing founders to retain control while providing attractive returns.
  • PE Sell-Downs: When Syarah reached maturity, BECO sold its entire position to growth and private equity investors, achieving liquidity while aligning with the company’s long-term growth path.
  • Strategic M&A: The landmark Uber-Careem acquisition demonstrated how regional category leaders can attract global strategic buyers at scale.
  • IPOs: With the Dubai Financial Market and Saudi Tadawul Group maturing as viable listing venues, the region now offers founders credible routes to liquidity – avoiding the challenges of “orphan stocks” on distant exchanges.

     

The Future: Expanding Exit Pathways

Looking ahead, Dany emphasized that the exit landscape continues to evolve.

Secondaries are becoming more liquid, continuation vehicles are emerging as a sophisticated way to extend ownership, and private equity buyers are increasingly active in taking stakes in high-performing venture portfolios.

Each new mechanism reinforces the region’s liquidity flywheel –  giving founders and investors greater flexibility to realize value on their own terms.

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