Dubai International Capital appoints Alykhan Nathoo as CEO of Emerging Markets

DIC invests through three divisions - Private Equity, Public Equities and Emerging Markets ('EM') - managing assets in excess of $13bn. The appointment of Alykhan is part of DIC's strategy to increase emerging markets exposure and balance its international portfolio. He will be responsible for spearheading direct investments in emerging markets and managing the growth plans of the existing EM portfolio, which includes significant stakes in Rivoli and KEF in the UAE, True Group in Singapore and DIC's country specific funds: Jordan Dubai Capital and Saudi Dubai Capital.

Alykhan joins DIC from Bain Capital in London, one of the largest global private equity firms, where has worked for over nine years. He was part of the founding team of Bain Capital Europe and played a significant role in the firm's European entry strategy and organizational development. Most recently, he led the $1.7bn global acquisition of Ideal Standard Bath & Kitchen from American Standard. Alykhan spent 18 years growing up in Africa and is of Indian descent, providing an ideal background for his DIC role. Alykhan obtained his BA in Quantitative Economics with Distinction from Stanford University and MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.

Sameer Al Ansari, Executive Chairman and CEO of DIC said: "We are focused on the continual strengthening and upgrading of the DIC team, ensuring we have world class leadership and investment professionals. Alykhan's appointment as CEO of Emerging Markets and his vision for the business is an important step in expanding DIC's emerging markets portfolio."

Alykhan Nathoo said: "DIC provides a unique platform to establish one of the pre-eminent emerging markets private equity firms globally. Given DIC's track record of growth, access to capital, geographical location and depth of relationships within emerging markets it is strongly positioned. My focus in 2009 will be to build a world class investing team and investment process in order to focus DIC's direct investing efforts across specific emerging markets."

Meanwhile, DIC has also appointed Eric Kump as Managing Director, Private Equity and Marc Hollander as Finance Director, Private Equity. Eric and Marc will report to Sylvain Denis, Chief Executive Officer of DIC Private Equity.

Sylvain Denis, Chief Executive Officer of DIC Private Equity said, "Today's appointments are an important investment in the continued success of DIC Private Equity. Eric's experience is invaluable, and he will spearhead our PE team in Europe from our London-based European headquarters, focusing on accelerating the growth of our portfolio and originating new investments. Marc will focus on maximising the performance of our existing investments, as well as keeping a tight control on risk management and reporting. I am delighted to welcome both Eric and Marc to the team and look forward to working with them."

Eric has 16 years of experience in international private equity and investment banking. Prior to joining DIC, he was a Managing Director with Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity where he was a member of the investment committee and a non-executive board member of numerous portfolio companies. While at MLGPE Eric focused on European LBOs in the financial services, leisure, retail, distribution, industrial and healthcare sectors. He has a BA in Finance and Accounting from Pace University, New York and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Marc joins from Investor AB, where he was a Managing Director in the private equity division and was responsible for controlling and reporting for the firm's $2.5bn private equity portfolio. At DIC Private Equity he will be responsible for the firm's accounting and financial reporting, including risk control, valuation policies and the execution of various projects. He started his career at ABN Amro where he spent 7 years in a variety of positions. Marc has a Masters in Business Economics from the University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from the Higher Business School in Haarlem, the Netherlands.