New Delhi, Aug. 8 -- UAE-based Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), which manages assets worth more than $3.5 billion (around Rs 30,680 crore) in private equity, venture capital, and real estate, has expanded its leadership team, appointing a former Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait executive as Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
The Abu Dhabi-based alternative investment firm, which recently raised $100 million in growth capital from Saudi institutional investors, has brought on board Utpal Shah as the Group CFO, as it eyes scaling further growth and investment opportunities across the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council.
Shah, a chartered accountant by qualification, served as DGM and then as deputy group CFO at Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, where he oversaw finance operations in Kuwait, the UAE, and Egypt.
At GII, besides supporting the firm's core financial architecture, Shah would accelerate GII's expansion into digital banking platforms, including initiatives such as Vision Bank and Offa.
"Utpal Shah brings a wealth of additional experience to GII, which will strengthen our financial controls and options to empower the group's continued growth," said Pankaj Gupta, co-founder and co-CEO, GII.
Shah, who has led diverse teams across different geographies and worked at ANZ and JP Morgan in his previous stints, has a proven track record in fundraising, liquidity management, and capital planning, according to the firm.
"We look forward to Utpal's contribution to developing GII's reputation as a pioneering, international, Shari'ah-compliant investment group, delivering the best value for GII's stakeholders in an increasingly competitive and complex investment environment," said Mohammed Alhassan, co-founder and co-CEO, GII.
The appointment comes at a time when GII seeks to deepen its presence in Saudi Arabia. It struck a $300 million joint venture deal with Saudi Industrial Services Company (Sisco)'s real estate development arm Logipoint, to build Grade A warehousing solutions across the Kingdom.
GII's other recent investments include the acquisition of GEMS Education in a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management.
Meanwhile, GII has an exposure of over $150 million in the Indian market through its two dedicated funds, India Growth Portfolio I (IGP-I), launched in 2020, and India Growth Portfolio II (IGP-II), launched in early 2021, placing bets on sectors such as electric mobility, consumer products, healthcare, and technology. In fact, it is exploring further deals in the Indian PE space.
Overall, the alternative investment firm has made exits worth $600 million so far, but has yet to mark an exit from its India portfolio.
Last year, GII sold a majority stake in its logistics real estate platform, comprising 1.5 million square feet of warehouses in the UAE, including the warehouse for leading e-commerce player Noon, to Canadian alternative investment firm Brookfield Asset Management, which aims to expand in the Middle East region.
The year before that, GII exited its investment in the Amity School complex in Dubai, operated by the Indian education provider Amity Education Group, in a $50 million deal after six years.
As per GII, its real estate portfolio is less than two-thirds of total investments and includes logistics assets such as warehouses for Amazon in Germany, Noon, and other leading logistics clients.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.