Alantra enters the Middle East through the opening of a new office in Dubai

• Alantra has appointed Saad Ashraf as Managing Partner of its Middle East office. He brings to the role more than 25 years of experience in investment banking and will lead Alantra’s operations in the region.
• With the opening of the Dubai office, the firm expands its presence to 25 offices in 21 countries, including the main financial hubs across EMEA, the US, Latam and Asia.
• The opening responds to Alantra’s ambition to become a global independent advisor with highly specialized capabilities. Last year, Alantra hired 30 senior professionals in high-growth sectors and recently launched a new investment banking vertical: maritime and offshore.

Dubai – Alantra, the independent global mid-market investment banking and asset management firm, is expanding into the Middle East with the incorporation of Saad Ashraf. Saad has been involved in more than 65 M&A, restructuring deals, and debt capital markets transactions valued at more than $10bn. These include complex credit transactions in both conventional and Islamic finance in the Middle East, focusing on Maritime & Offshore, Financial Institutions, Real Estate, and Healthcare. In addition, Saad has C-suite solid relationships in the region’s corporate, FIG, private equity, and SWF sectors. Before joining Alantra, he was a Principal and Managing Director at StormHarbour, where he was the Head of the Middle East business for more than 5-years and mainly focused on M&A advisory, restructurings, and structured finance transactions across various sectors.

In the Middle East, Alantra will be based in the Dubai International Financial Centre, a leading international financial hub in the MEASA region. This business ecosystem allocates more than 3,292 active companies that benefit from the centre’s robust independent judicial system & regulatory framework, a global financial exchange, inspiring architecture, and enabling support services.

“By opening our first-ever office in the Middle East, we are adding an ‘on the ground’ presence in Dubai, which has grown to become one of the most exciting and dynamic financial hubs in the world. In recent years, the Middle East has experienced an upsurge in cross-border M&A activity. We believe that now is the right time for Alantra to establish a presence in the region as we continue to offer our mid-market clients a highly specialized service with a truly global reach”, said Miguel Hernandez, CEO of Alantra’s Investment Banking division.

Saad Ashraf, Managing Partner at Alantra, commented: “I am excited to be joining Alantra in this new frontier for the firm, whose specialized and diverse services across multiple sectors and global reach will allow to further dynamize the financial community in the region and across existing clients around the globe.”