Perella Weinberg Partners Announces Abu Dhabi Office Opening

Names Jameel Akhrass and Nabil F. Lahham Partners

 

NEW YORK & ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates & LONDON, Thursday, September 23rd 2010 [ME NewsWire]:

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Perella Weinberg Partners, a leading financial services firm providing corporate advisory and asset management services to clients globally, today announced that it has opened its latest office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Today’s announcement accompanies the recent addition of Jameel Akhrass and Nabil F. Lahham as Partners of the Firm. Mr. Akhrass and Mr. Lahham will focus on further growing the Firm’s strategic advisory and asset management businesses across the Middle East region.

Joseph Perella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Perella Weinberg Partners, said, “We are very pleased to be opening our Abu Dhabi office. This is an important development in our firm’s continuing commitment to an exceedingly important region of the world, and we are enthusiastic about the growth prospects for both our advisory and asset management businesses.”

Both Mr. Akhrass and Mr. Lahham join Perella Weinberg Partners from Nomura International plc, and have extensive advisory and investment management expertise in the Middle East.

With 23 years of regional experience, Mr. Akhrass most recently served as Nomura’s Vice Chairman of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, and was also Head of MENA Investment Banking. Prior to joining Perella Weinberg Partners, Mr. Lahham was a Managing Director in Nomura’s MENA Investment Banking group, where he was responsible for executing a wide range of in-region and cross-border transactions in multiple sectors. Mr. Akhrass and Mr. Lahham will work closely with New York-based Partners Tarek Abdel-Meguid and Amr M. Nosseir.

Peter Weinberg, a Founding Partner and head of the Firm’s advisory business, said, “Jameel and Nabil are highly regarded and accomplished bankers who, along with Tarek and Amr, collectively have almost a century of regional and transactional banking experience. We have assembled an exceptionally senior team which we believe delivers an unmatched level of commitment to the region. Through them we have established a strong platform from which we will continue to serve clients in this important region.”

Tarek Abdel-Meguid, a Founding Partner and head of the Firm’s asset management business, added, “We believe in the positive secular growth outlook for the Middle East and in the associated opportunities for a firm with our business model. Amr, Jameel and Nabil have many years of experience working together in the region and I look forward to once again working alongside them in furthering our clients’ interests.”

Jameel Akhrass added, “Perella Weinberg Partners is known throughout the Middle East as a premier financial services firm with deep relationships and expertise. We look forward to leveraging our strong regional ties to further augment Perella Weinberg Partners’ industry-leading capabilities.”

Nabil Lahham stated, “We are thrilled to be re-united with many of our former colleagues, and are looking forward to working closely with them to help expand Perella Weinberg Partners’ Middle East presence, and to deliver to our clients the high quality of service for which the firm is known.”

In connection with the Firm’s increased commitment to the region, Hesham Ali, who has been with Perella Weinberg Partners’ asset management group for three years, will be responsible for marketing and investor relations as Head of Middle East Asset Management.

Amr Nosseir, a Founding Partner of the Firm, noted, “I am very excited about the firm’s increased resource commitment to the Middle East franchise. Along with our physical presence in Abu Dhabi, we will have the depth and expertise to address the regional objectives of the firm’s non-Middle East clients, as well as the business needs of our clients in the area.”

Biography of Amr M. Nosseir

Amr M. Nosseir, 55, has over 25 years of investment banking experience having been involved in a wide range of corporate advisory assignments, mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, equity and debt financings, and asset management initiatives. Prior to joining Perella Weinberg Partners, Mr. Nosseir was Managing Director and Head of the Middle East Group in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division. During his leadership of the Middle East Group, Mr. Nosseir and his team were responsible for Morgan Stanley’s primary relationships with the region’s governments, institutional investors, financial services firms, corporations and family groups. Mr. Nosseir received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Colgate University and a Masters in Business Administration in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Biography of Jameel Akhrass

Jameel Akhrass, 49, has over 20 years of investment banking experience in the Middle East region. Most recently, Mr. Akhrass was Managing Director, Vice Chairman of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, and was also Head of MENA Investment Banking for Nomura International plc. He was appointed to this role in May 2008 while at Lehman Brothers, having previously held the role of CEO & Head of Investment Banking for the Middle East for that firm. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers in April 2006, Mr. Akhrass worked for nearly 12 years at Morgan Stanley, most recently as Deputy Head of MENA Investment Banking based in London. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Akhrass worked in JP Morgan’s asset management business in New York, where he was responsible for the Kuwait and Saudi Arabia region. He started his banking career at Bankers Trust as a member of the Middle East Investment Banking Group. Mr. Akhrass received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA and a Masters in Business Administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.

Biography of Nabil F. Lahham

Nabil F. Lahham, 40, joins Perella Weinberg Partners from Nomura International, plc where he was a Managing Director in the MENA Investment Banking group based in Dubai, UAE. In this role, Mr. Lahham executed a wide range of in-region and cross-border M&A and restructuring transactions for sovereign wealth funds, corporates, family groups and financial sponsors in sectors including FIG, TMT, Oil & Gas, General Industries and Real Estate. Prior to that, Mr. Lahham was an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Group and also served as the Head of Middle East Investment Management for Morgan Stanley. In 1999, Mr. Lahham co-founded Printconnect, an Application Service Provider serving the printing and publishing industry. Mr. Lahham also held various positions at J.P. Morgan & Co, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Rand McNally & Co. Mr. Lahham received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.

About Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners is a leading financial services firm that provides corporate advisory and asset management services to clients around the world. The corporate advisory business provides high quality, independent advice and transaction execution capabilities; including mergers and acquisitions, exclusive sales, defense advisory, financial restructuring, private capital, and pension advisory. The global asset management business comprises a suite of hedge fund strategies, private capital and a multimanager business, and including affiliates, has capital commitments and managed assets of approximately $6.0 billion. Launched in 2006, the Firm is a private partnership with approximately 315 employees recruited from a wide variety of leading financial institutions.

The Firm has offices in London, New York, Austin, Denver, San Francisco, and Abu Dhabi. Biographies and additional information available at www.pwpartners.com.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Perella Weinberg Partners Media Contacts: Perella Weinberg Partners Kara Findlay, + 1-212-287-3197 Sard Verbinnen & Co Denise DesChenes/Renée Soto, + 1-212-687-8080   Powerscourt Karen Le Cannu, +44 (0)20 7250 1446