Chairman

Chairman

Ziad Makkawi has over 25 years experience in financial services. Prior to co-founding Blue Gate Capital Partners, Ziad was the Founding Shareholder, Chairman and CEO of Algebra Capital, an asset management and advisory firm based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). As CEO, Ziad was responsible for building Algebra Capital to be one of the leading MENA focused asset management companies, and for successfully selling the business to Franklin Templeton Investments, a global leader in asset management with over USD 700 billion in assets under management.

Ziad was also co-founder and Board member of Tigris Enterprises, a holding company with investments in Iraq since 2004. Tigris Enterprises had activities through subsidiaries in several sectors including Construction, Food & Beverages, and Healthcare.

Ziad has held top positions at international and regional investment banks and financial institutions, starting with JP Morgan in New York (1986) and Elf Aquitaine in Geneva (1990). He then moved to the Middle East to co-found Lebanon Invest (1994) subsequently bought by Lebanese banking group Bank Audi, and the Middle-East Capital Group, the region's first merchant bank with a MENA focus in 1996.

Ziad is a pioneer and leader in the development and turn-around of the regional financial services firms including commercial banks, investment banks and asset management. Under his leadership the teams he has managed have executed over USD 10 billion worth of investment banking and capital markets mandates. He has launched, managed, and acted as Chief Investment Officer on some of the region's most innovative and successful investment funds.

Prior to Algebra Capital, Ziad was CEO of Dubai Bank, one of the UAE's youngest and most dynamic banks. Under his leadership the Bank achieved break-even in its second full year of operation and returned 21% return to shareholders in its third year of operation.

Ziad also launched the bank's investment banking, asset management and brokerage operations. He then executed transactions in the GCC, India, Pakistan and Turkey. He has served on the boards of innumerable companies and funds in the region including Middle East Capital Group (Lebanon), National Bonds (UAE) a Shari’a compliant savings institution, Capital Management House (Bahrain); The Alpha Mena Fund; The Special Situations fund, The Arab Gateway Fund; The Arab Income Fund and others.

Prior to heading Dubai Bank, Ziad was Executive Management Director of SHUAA Capital, a UAE based Investment Banking institution where he built from scratch and ran the financial services business encompassing Capital Markets, Asset Management, Brokerage and Research. The foundation laid down by Ziad allowed SHUAA Capital to occupy a leading position in the regional investment banking and asset management arena.

Ziad holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, an MBA in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Management and a B.A. from Rice University. He is a member of the YPO-WPO since 2004.

CEO

CEO

Waseem Baban has over 30 years of experience in financial services, project management and business development. Prior to co-founding Blue Gate Capital Partners, Waseem was the Chairman and CEO of Tigris Enterprises, a firm he co-founded in 2004, to take part in the reconstruction efforts of Iraq. Under Waseem’s leadership, Tigris Enterprises’ was active on the ground with a physical presence in Baghdad and Erbil. Tigris Enterprises initially focused on engineering & contracting acting as main contractor and sub-contractor to some of the world’s largest US and European construction firms including AMEC, CH2M Hill, The Washington Group, Parsons. Tigris Enterprises also focused on the Healthcare sector and actively worked with the Healthcare Ministry to provide healthcare services to Iraqis. Other activities Tigris was involved in are the Food/Beverage and the trading & procurement businesses.

Waseem was also a Board member of National Bank of Iraq, established in 1995 to deliver a comprehensive array of banking solutions to the Iraqi market.

Prior to establishing Tigris Enterprises in 2004, Waseem held a successful career, spanning over 12 years, in international institutional and private banking. Until 2004, Waseem headed the Sales and Distribution division at Shuaa Capital, a Dubai based MENA focused investment bank where he built and led a team to manage client relations in the region. Waseem was responsible for the distribution of all products and services of Shuaa Capital including MENA equity and debt funds, IPOs, bond issues and private equity deals. Before joining Shuaa Capital, Waseem held senior positions at the international private banking divisions of HSBC Republic, Paribas and Credit Agricole Indosuez covering the GCC market with a primary focus on Saudi Arabia. During this period, Waseem was involved in distributing a variety of investment products and services including private equity deals, IPOs, fixed income, funds and real estate financings.

Before beginning his career in private banking, Waseem worked in the insurance sector based in the United States. Waseem was involved in providing group employee benefits, including individual and group insurance investment products, for large corporates while working with the likes of Prudential Insurance and ITT. Additionally, through his CFP license Waseem undertook financial planning and advisory for high net worth individuals.

Waseem holds a BSc in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Baghdad.

Managing Partner

Managing Partner

Fethi Kirdar has over 15 years of experience in investment banking and private equity. Prior to co-founding Blue Gate Capital Partners, Fethi was a Director in Deutsche Bank’s Middle East & North African (MENA) investment banking team based in Dubai. Within this role, Fethi was responsible for providing corporate finance advisory services to clients in the MENA region, originating and executing M&A, debt, equity and Project Finance Advisory transactions. In the region, Fethi’s clients included Sovereign Wealth Funds, large corporate and family offices.

Fethi’s recent transactions include Mubadala’s US$2.5 billion Corporate Revolving Credit Facility, Mubadala’s US$700 million equity financing, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co.’s US$750 million bond issue, DIFC Investments’ US$1.25 billion sukuk issue, Gulf Air’s US$280 million ECA financing of 8xA320 aircraft, Investcorp’s US$1.3 billion sale of American Tire Distributors, strategic and financial advisor to Saraya Holdings and strategic advisory to DIFC Investments on a number of transactions including the £200 million acquisition of Smartstream Technologies.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank in Dubai in October 2006, Fethi was Associate Director in Barclays Capital in Dubai where he was member of the team that established Barclays Capital’s presence in the DIFC and grew the business to be one of the leading international investment banks in the MENA region. At Barclays Capital, Fethi was responsible for originating and executing debt financings and risk management transactions for clients in the MENA region.

Fethi moved to Dubai from London, in March 2002, to join The Investment Office (TIO), the private office of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. At TIO, Fethi helped establish and subsequently joined Estithmaar Ventures, a US$100 million telecoms, media and technology (TMT) focused private equity fund jointly sponsored by TIO and Deutsche Bank.

Fethi began his investment banking career in London at Bankers Trust, which was later acquired by Deutsche Bank, where he gained experience in a number of industry and product groups.

Fethi hold a BSc in International Economics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager

Meeran Attar has over 5 years of experience in banking, business development and in undertaking entrepreneurial initiatives. Prior to joining Blue Gate Capital Partners, Meeran was responsible for launching and building a number of new businesses in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, including a food distribution business and an oilfield services company, as well as other initiatives. Meeran has been based in Erbil, Iraq, since 2009.

Before moving to Erbil, Meeran was an Analyst in the Energy Investment Banking team at Citi, based in London, where he was involved in analyzing, valuing and advising international oil and gas companies. At Citi, Meeran also undertook research on the European and Asian oil and gas markets as well as the LNG market.

Meeran began his career in banking as a Credit Analyst in the Credit Department of the London branch of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (“NBAD”). At NBAD, Meeran undertook research and analysis on European corporates and clients of the bank.

Dual Iraqi/UK citizen, Meeran holds an MSc in Metals & Energy Finance from Imperial College London, Royal School of Mines and a BSc (Hons) in Development Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Technical & Commercial Manager

Technical & Commercial Manager

Mohannad has over 22 years’ experience in IT and Telecommunications, business development, trading and procurement in the government and private sectors. Prior to joining Blue Gate Capital Partners, Mohannad held a number of senior positions including Consultant to the Office of the Jordanian Prime Minister, Business Development Manager, Procurement Manager, Chief Technology Officer and General Manager within the government and private sectors.

During his career, Mohannad has earned many Professional Certificates including MCSE, MCP, CCNA, Project Management and more than 30 Certificates from USA and Europe in field of Technology.

Mohannad holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Jordan University (1989).