The Managing Partners of Ithmar Capital bring together extensive regional experience and expertise in the private equity industry. The Ithmar Capital team will also be one of the few management teams that combine regional experience with international best practices. The team has a strong track record in operational restructuring and financial re-engineering - the two key areas of value creation within portfolio companies. The team also has extensive line management experience in creating high growth within companies. This has created the ability (within Ithmar Capital) to work closely with top management of target companies in achieving high growth and value creation. In summary, the team’s skill sets covers the whole value chain of private equity.
Faisal bin Juma Belhoul - Founder and Managing Partner
Mr. Belhoul is a UAE national with extensive investment, managerial and operational experience and contacts within the GCC. Prior to founding Ithmar Capital he started his senior management career with the Belhoul Group of Companies, a traditional diversified family owned group with a strong history. He successfully led the transformation of the Group, redefining strategy, creating management depth, repositioning specific companies, building growth platforms and ultimately enhancing portfolio composition to maximize shareholder value within group companies. By 2001, the Group had successfully reinvented itself as a regional ‘Asset Management Company’, with investments in private equity, capital markets and real estate.
He was the Chairman of the boards for various business groups and associations, which include the UAE Private Hospitals Council, the UAE Private Schools Councils, the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Equipment Business Group in the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI). He is also a board member of the Young Arab Leaders (YAL) as well as the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO). Mr. Belhoul is also an active participant on boards of a number of companies in the UAE and the US. His educational background was in the US where he studied Manufacturing Engineering in Boston University.
Khaldoun Haj Hasan – Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Khaldoun has over 13 years of experience in investments and strategy development in the Middle East. He is also the co-founder of Ithmar Capital and has significant experience in private equity in the GCC region.
Prior to Ithmar Capital, he was Vice President at Abraaj Capital, a private equity firm based in the UAE. During his stay at Abraaj, he was instrumental in various aspects of the business from investor relations, capital raising, deal screening and formulating exit strategies. He also held various senior management positions in a number of UAE ventures. He was acting CEO of Sheikh Khalifa Small and Medium Size Enterprises where along with Accenture has helped build the business model. He has also been the Partners Asset Director of Al-Bawardi Enterprises and Commercial Director of Al-Fahim Group, two of the largest family owned businesses in the UAE. He was primarily responsible for their investment programs, and helping their portfolio companies in inorganic growth through M&A activities in addition to structuring and executing exit strategies. Khaldoun has current board presentations on a number of privately held companies in the UAE and the US. He holds an MBA and MSc in manufacturing Engineering from Boston University.