Amit Agrawal CFO Avivo Group

Presently working as CFO with Avivo Group, the healthcare platform of a Private Equity; Apart from finance, also manages HR & Admin, Procurement, IT and Legal functions.

He comes with a proven track record in leadership, M&A, business restructuring and turnaround, investments, corporate governance and strategic thinking.

Proficient in M&A, IPO readiness, fund raising, strategic planning, feasibility studies, business restructuring, joint-ventures, strategic alliances, financial analysis, valuations, accounting and control, corporate governance, legal and contract negotiations, etc.

Industries exposure: Healthcare, FMCG distribution, Private Equity, Fashion Retail, Pharmacy Retail, Logistics, Coal Mining, Iron & Steel, Power Distribution, Water Distribution, Construction & Infrastructure, Real Estate, Education, Equipment rental, Port operations, Power rental, Warehousing, Transportation, etc. 

He has previously worked with Tata Steel – India (a fortune500 company), Alghanim Industries – Kuwait, Global Capital Management – Kuwait and Jassim Transport and Stevedoring Co – Kuwait.

Fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds green belt certification for ‘Lean Six Sigma’.

Winner of ‘Revolutionary CFO of the Year’ award in 2017 organized by Naseba. 

Neeraj Agrawal Executive Director Crescent Enterprises

Neeraj Agrawal is the Executive Director - Crescent Enterprises and has played a particularly key role in the global expansion, diversification, and financing activities related to Crescent Enterprises’ ports and logistics interests. In his capacities as a Board Member and as the Chief Financial Officer of the Crescent Group, Neeraj is responsible for the Group’s finance functions. He is also responsible for building the Group’s relationships with the investment and banking community.

Ashraf Allam Vice President MundiPharma

Ashraf Allam is the Regional Vice President for Mundipharma Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, based in Dubai.

Mundipharma is a leading research and manufacturing privately held US Pharmaceutical company with annual revenues around $5.0 Billions

In this role, Ashraf manages Mundipharma business in the MEA countries and is fully accountable for the profit and loss. Over the last five years, Ashraf has been serving as the elected Chairman, Executive Committee for the association of American, European and Japanese research based manufacturing pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies (PhRMA) in the Middle East and Africa region.

Jessica Asinugo Head of Enterprise Solutions – GE Healthcare Middle East & Turkey GE Healthcare

Jessica has held a series of management positions across healthcare organizations in the United States, Africa, South-East Asia and the Middle East. Her wide range of experience spans business development, general management, consulting and product development. Currently, Jessica leads GE Healthcare’s Enterprise Solutions business for the Middle East and Turkey. She is responsible for driving end-to-end customer solutions that leverage the full breadth of GE Healthcare’s portfolio. Working with healthcare providers, investors and government entities, her team drives innovative business models and builds long term strategic partnerships that create value across clinical, operational and financial indicators. Jessica holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Matthew Benson ‎Transaction Advisory Services Partner EY

Matthew is based in EY’s Dubai office and leads EY’s Transaction Support team, including Financial Due Diligence, Commercial Due Diligence, and Corporate Finance Strategy across Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa (EMEIA), with a specific focus on in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for the last three years. Prior to that Matthew worked for EY’s Transaction Advisory Services team in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, for fourteen years, after starting in EY’s audit practice in London.

As well as leading buy-side and sell-side transaction support engagements for both corporate and private equity clients, key developments that Matthew is involved in digital due diligence, data analytics, and advice in relation to purchase price mechanics and addressing due diligence findings into sale and purchase agreements for domestic and inbound clients.

Danish Chotani CEO Burj Financial

Burj Financial is the vision and determination of Danish Chotani.

Danish brings with him decades of experience in the investment management space. Having headed Investment Management for one of the region’s largest private endowments for over a decade, followed by another decade in Investment Management leadership positions for one of Europe's largest private banks, Danish brings a unique combination of product knowledge and connectivity with some of the regions wealthiest offices. 

His experience within the financial industry spans across managing funds, raising of capital, and structuring corporate finance and investment banking transactions both in the conventional and innovative space.

His approach to Fintech from a conventional perspective adds immense value to the practice of Innovative Financing, Block Chain based Product Development and assistance to the Regulatory environment for any Investor protection.

Danish holds Bachelor’s in Economics and Journalism and is a member of the UK Society of Investment Professionals

Konrad Deiters Partner Mercer

Konrad is a Partner and leads Mercer’s International M&A business. He has a wealth of experience in international HR management and M&A gained from both line management and consulting roles.

He has worked for 16 years in the area of HR consulting incl. HR M&A in an international context. He supports clients in all aspects that matter from the Workforce and HR perspective and has worked on a large number of projects across the Globe. During the last 12 years he has been involved in multiple transactions by supporting the organizational and HR due diligence through post-merger integration. Within this context he has been involved in various restructuring projects. Konrad has worked on numerous projects developing and executing organization strategy. Furthermore he works closely with senior executives of corporates and private equity firms on a variety of Leadership, People and HR issues. He has particular expertise in: Mergers & Acquisitions, human capital strategy, synergy realization, rewards, labor relations, leadership assessment and development , HR transformation, culture alignment, transformation and change management. Prior to joining Mercer he held positions as leader of PWC’s HR Management and M&A business and was Mercer’s HR M&A Consulting Head for Central Europe and Italy.

Konrad studied political economy at Ludwig Maximilian’s University in Munich and at the insurance academy in Munich, Germany, where he graduated as an insurance economist. During 2002/2003 he graduated from an Executive Education Program at Babson College, Boston and he has completed the M&A Executive Program at the Wharton School. Konrad is fluent in German, English and Italian.

Ahmed Emara Group CEO & Managing Director ReAya Holding

Dr. Ahmed Emara is the Founder, Group CEO & Managing Director of ReAya Holding, a company he founded in 2012, that has grown from a small investment company to a group of portfolio companies across different geographies.

He is Medical Doctor/Surgeon by profession, a Healthcare and Life Science Entrepreneur, a Healthcare Operator and an Investor with over 25 years of strong international exposure and operational background in managing a spectrum of multi-disciplinary companies. Dr. Emara holds a solid track record of strategizing in Private Equity Deals where he assumes the responsibility of Identifying and implementing best practices, business process assessments, mapping and process re-engineering.

Dr. Emara steps in personally and takes over full responsibility of most of ReAya’s portfolio companies as the CEO/Managing Director. This very hands-on-approach differentiates ReAya from all other investment companies across the region. His endeavors also include developing viable investment opportunities in healthcare markets across MENA and escalating investee companies through restructuring, M&A activities, and operational reengineering.

He is also the Founder and Managing Partner of several entrepreneurial ventures including Muse (A healthcare M&A and advisory firm), and Tech. Developers (An intellectual property commercialization venture). As a recognized Healthcare Thought Leader, Dr. Emara is a regular panelist and speaker on healthcare private equity & operational excellence at international industry conferences.

Dr. Emara began his career in various senior management positions across Canada and the Middle East in affiliations with distinguished, intercontinental companies like Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer & Abbott.

Furthermore, he has held & still holds several positions of significant responsibilities including his current position at ReAya as the Founder, Group CEO & Managing Director:

• CEO of Jeddah BioCity (Pioneer life science venture-capital firm)
• Board Member, Exec & Finance Committee of Arabio (First JV Biological plant in MENA)
• Managing Director of ESD (A hazardous-medical-waste-management corporation)
• Managing Director of BioScan (A unique cyclotron cancer-diagnostic center)
• Board Director at SABA Medical (Ambulatory Healthcare group- 30 yrs. in business)
• Managing Director & CEO of Metrek (Chain of retail pharmacies and polyclinics.)
• Chairman & CEO of Avrupagoz, (Leading Turkish chain of ophthalmology centers)
• Managing Director & CEO of Zahrawi (Dubai-based distributor of Medical Devices)
• Managing Director & CEO of Dar Al Zahrawi (Saudi-based distributor of Medical Devices)
• Executive Chairman of Orzax, (Turkish production & marketing co. of nutritional supplements)

Professor Emilio Escartin, OBE Professor of Islamic Finance, General Partner and Founder EBDA Ventures

23 + years of experience in Private Equity, Venture Capital and Investment Banking (Islamic and Conventional) Having managed and Launched 6 Private Equity Funds in Europe (4 Private Equity Funds for SMEs) and Middle East (1 Islamic Private Equity Fund for SMEs and 1 VC Fund of Funds) Deep knowledge of Professional Standards for the Private Equity and Venture Capital Industry (ILPA, IPEV, EVCA) Taking part in the whole live cycle of a Private Equity Fund: Fundraising, Legal Structuring and Placement, Hunting, Investing, Monitoring and Exits. Working closely with Entrepreneurs, Startups and SMEs. Experience in Islamic Banking and Finance (Shari’ah Compliant) products

Ahmed Faiyaz Sait Advisor, Investment and PPPs Dubai Health Authority

Ahmed Faiyaz is strategy professional with 15 years’ experience and over 10 years’ experience in health sector transformation, investments and strategy planning. He is currently the Advisor for Health Investments & PPP’s in Dubai Health Authority.

Markus Federle Managing Director and General Counsel Samena Capital Investments

Markus is the General Counsel and Head of Group Compliance as well as a member of the Executive Committee of Samena Capital. He is a Senior Managing Director of Samena Capital Investments Limited in Dubai. He has more than 20 years of experience advising on M&A, private equity, fund structuring as well as corporate governance and regulatory issues. Prior to joining Samena Capital, Markus was a Co-Founder, Partner and General Counsel of ESO Capital Group, an investment manager focusing on alternative assets across Europe. Prior to this, Dr. Federle was a partner and the Head of Private Equity for Germany at the law firm Dewey Ballantine. Previously, he was a partner at Norton Rose and an attorney at Hengeler Mueller.

Markus holds a JD and PhD (Dr iur) from the University of Freiburg i.Br. (German Academic Foundation Fellow), a Licence en Droit from the Université D’Aix-Marseille, and a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of California at Los Angeles (Fulbright Fellow). He is also qualified as a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Chad Floe Operating Partner and Managing Director TVM Capital Healthcare Partners

Chad joined in October 2014 as an Operating Partner with responsibility for corporate finance and advisory activities with portfolio companies.

Over a career of more than 27 years in investment banking, Chad built and led international teams of up to 80, focused on healthcare and cross border advisory. He has advised clients in more than 200 M&A, equity, and leveraged finance transactions in Europe, the US and the Middle East, while at HSBC, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Lehman Brothers, First Boston and originally at Morgan Bank.

An international American now based in Dubai, Chad has been based in London since 1989. Chad’s GCC connections are long-standing, having lived in Dubai in 2008 while running HSBC’s MENA Advisory business, and covered Saudi Arabia for Morgan Bank in the early 1980s.

Chad has successfully transitioned from an established investment banking career to a plural healthcare industrial career, recently serving as International Director at HCA International (London’s leading private hospital group), responsible for evaluating, structuring and negotiating opportunities in the international clinical services space, particularly in the GCC and India.

Chad has also served since 2006 as board member and senior advisor to Ottobock Group GmbH (a private German company and global leader in prostheses and mobility) and on the Executive Committee of the Board of HealthRight International (an international not-for-profit organization providing long-term healthcare solutions in the emerging markets).

Elaine Green Editor Mergermarket

Elaine Green is Editor - EMEA Bureaus at Mergermarket and is responsible for managing the Bureaus in Europe and Middle East and African (EMEA) as well as being Global Head of Shipping. She has been with the company since its inception in 2000 and is an experienced reporter, editor and manager having worked both within the group and at wide range of other European publications. Her qualifications include a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).

Natasha Hannoun Director Abu Dhabi Financial Group

Natasha is a Director at Integrated Alternative Finance Ltd (“IAF”), a wholly owned subsidiary and the principal debt investment platform of Abu Dhabi Financial Group. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi listed property developer Eshraq Properties Co. and Septech Holdings, a specialist water provider headquartered in Dubai.

At IAF, Natasha leads the investment team and is responsible for the origination, structuring and execution of ADFG’s debt investments in the Middle East including last mile financing for property developers, acquisition financing for financial sponsors, mezzanine financing and subordinated debt. Natasha has structured over USD 7bn in real estate financing, including last mile financing for Balqis Residences on the Palm Jumeirah and a GBP 100m listed Eurobond for the Broadway development in London.

Tony Hchaime Head of M&A and ECM Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Tony runs the M&A, ECM and Corporate Advisory practices at ADIB, where he is focused on building market-leading investment banking capabilities to complement the bank’s existing strengths and track record in product innovation, Islamic syndications & DCM, corporate, retail and private banking.

Tony has 19 years of Investment Banking and Asset Management experience with Wall Street firms including Lehman Brothers and the D. E. Shaw group in the MENA Region and London. Previous roles include Head of MENA at D.E. Shaw and Director of Investment Banking at Lehman Brothers. During his career, Tony led a number of cross-border M&A and advisory transactions for blue chip companies across the MENA region.

Fadi Hindi CEO Takaful Emarat

Fadi Hindi has led Takaful Emarat-Insurance (P.S.C) as a Chief Executive Officer since January 2018. He oversees the strategic growth, operations and overall development of the company.  Mr. Hindi brings over 28 years of experience in strategy planning and digital transformation to Takaful Emarat Insurance (P.S.C.). He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Acting Chief Innovation Officer (CinO) for Innovation & The Future at Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). Prior to joining DEWA, Mr. Hindi was a Strategy, Operations and Partnerships Consultant at Smart Dubai and Office of Strategy Management (OSM) Consultant at Smart Dubai Government. He also was a Vice President at National Bank of Abu Dhabi in the Transformation Management Office.

Mr. Hindi has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering (with a minor in Robotics & Artificial Intelligence) from North Carolina State University.

Asar Mashkoor Managing Director, Investment Banking Emirates NBD Capital

Asar has over 20 years of investment banking experience across sectors and geographies. Currently he is the Head of Corporate Finance at ENBD Capital where he focusses on advising local and regional corporates and financial institutions on mergers & acquisitions, IPOs and rights issues and private placements and structured equity transactions

Asar moved to the GCC region in 2006 as Head of Investment Banking for National Bank of Dubai and subsequently joined QInvest in Doha where he spent 4 years as Head of Investment Banking. Asar has broad based experience in the Middle East advising some of the largest institutions on regional and international M&A, IPOs, syndicated loans, bonds and Sukuk transactions

Key corporate clients include Emaar, Qtel (Ooredoo), Qatar Navigation (Milaha), Dubai Parks, Meraas, Ajman Bank, Dubai Group, Qatar Investment Authority, Koc Group, Tupras, Al Tayer Group, Majid Al Futtaim Group, Al Futtaim Group, Al Dabbagh Group, Zamil Group, Centurion Investments etc

Prior moving to Dubai, Asar was a Director in the EMEA Debt Capital Markets group at Merrill Lynch in London for 7 years and an Associate in the TMT Group at HSBC in based in London and Tokyo.

Asar is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) and also holds an Honours Bachelors degree in Information Systems Engineering from Imperial College (University of London)

Ruth McKee Consultant Editor Mergermarket

Ruth is a journalist for Mergermarket. Based in Dubai for eleven years she is an experienced financial journalist with an extensive network of contacts in the region. She has worked as a deputy editor for CPI Financial, publisher of Banker Middle East, and prior to moving to Dubai she spent a year reporting and editing at Bucharest Business Week in Romania. Ruth had earlier stints in local and regional newspapers in Northern Ireland and worked as broadcast assistant at BBC Three Counties Radio in Bedfordshire.

Ruth has also worked as a consultant for Dubai-based ValuStrat Consulting, sourcing potential acquisition targets for PE/VC firms, corporates and family offices, and as a consultant partner with market research firm Insight Discovery.

She holds a BA (Hons) Media Performance from the University of Bedfordshire and is a qualified journalist from the Belfast Metropolitan College.

Anil Menon M&A and ECM Leader EY MENA

Anil, a partner with the Transaction Advisory Service Group at Ernst & Young, leads the M&A and ECM advisory business in Middle East and North Africa. Anil has over 20 years of experience in financial advisory services and Investment Banking. He has led and executed several M&A and IPO advisory engagements in the Middle East and North Africa, Indian subcontinent and Asia. Anil serves on Ernst & Young’s MENA deal review board.

He is a Wharton AMP alumni and holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and a MBA in Finance and Marketing.

Omar Momany Partner Baker McKenzie

Omar is a partner and head of the UAE Corporate/M&A practice. His practice focuses on public and private mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, corporate governance, joint ventures, commercial matters and corporate/shareholders' disputes in the UAE and throughout the region.

Omar has over 15 years' of experience in the Middle East and has acted for local and regional corporates and financial institutions, governments and regulatory bodies, multinationals, family businesses and royal houses. He is bilingual in Arabic and English.

Representative clients, cases or matters

Arijit Nandi Head of Investment Banking The National Investor

Arijit Nandi is a Director within the Merchant Banking team at The  National Investor.

Arijit has over 15 years of investment banking and private equity  experience with a focus on real estate, SMEs, consumer retail, services and  financials. Arijit started his investment banking career at Vedanta, a metals  and mining conglomerate and subsequently joined EY in the M&A desk.

Arijit has advised on a number of equity transactions in Middle East  including Transguard and MAF Orix.

 Arijit is a CFA charter holder and a Chartered Accountant.

Aditya Shah Assistant Director IL&FS

Aditya is currently an Assistant Director at the IL&FS Group covering Africa and the Middle East. Aditya is responsible for origination, structuring and execution of investments for the private equity business as well as identifying new infrastructure projects for development for the Group. Aditya’s experience spans across infrastructure sectors including transportation, utilities, urban infrastructure and social infrastructure. Over the past decade Aditya has been instrumental in investing in and developing projects worth over US$ 1.5 billion. Aditya was previously at Invest AD as part of the ADIC-UBS Infrastructure Fund team.

Nicole Tovstiga Reporter Debtwire

Nicole Tovstiga joined Acuris in 2017 as a reporter, focusing on the private equity market in the Nordic and CEE regions. She previously worked for various publications covering energy, commodities and wealth management.

Nicole graduated from SOAS with an MA in Social Anthropology in 2016. She also has an MSc in Business Analysis from Reading University and a BA in English Literature from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Philip Whitchelo VP, Strategic Business & Corporate Development Intralinks

Philip is responsible for growth opportunities at Intralinks, a financial technology provider for the global dealmaking, private equity and capital markets communities. He is an Honorary Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Finance at Cass Business School, City, University of London and is also a member of the Advisory Board of the M&A Research Centre at Cass. Philip joined Intralinks in 2010 and has 25 years’ experience of working in M&A, corporate development and corporate finance. He began his career at Deloitte in London and has also worked in M&A advisory at NatWest Markets and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, in corporate finance for The Rank Group plc, as well as founding an M&A consulting firm. Philip holds postgraduate degrees in Finance and Computer Science from the University of London.