Preserving the family home

There is a new family running Khoury Home. Since 2011, Lebanon’s largest household appliance and electronic retailer has been suffering financially in the face of rapidly changing economic conditions. As of this past January Romen Mathieu, managing director of the EuroMena private equity funds of London-based financial institution Capital Trust Group, stepped in as chief executive to turn the company around. “It was a rescue operation,” says Tony Khoury, as he explains why he and his brothers agreed at the end of last year to sell the company they founded from scratch for $30 million. “A rescue operation for my brothers and me, for the new investors, for our partner, for the banks, for the suppliers and most importantly for the employees,” he says. At lunch in Dbayeh, Tony looks refreshed and energetic as he reflects on his laborious years sweating and grinding away to take the company from a small showroom