By Hadeel Al Sayegh
DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. financial services firm Guggenheim Partners' venture in Dubai said on Sunday it has hired Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) banker Omar Abu Innab to lead investment banking coverage and new client acquisitions for the Middle East and North Africa.
Guggenheim KBBO Partners - a joint venture with Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Butti Bin Omeir (KBBO) Group and headquartered in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) - said it hoped the appointment would help its efforts to expand in the region.
It joins other investment advisory firms looking to take advantage of a dealmaking bonanza that has been buoyed by a combination of bond and share sales, and mergers and acquisitions amid lower oil prices.
Abu Innab was Goldman Sachs executive director responsible of coverage of sovereigns, corporates, private equity firms, and family offices, with a focus on Saudi Arabia.
During Abu Innab's time at the bank, Goldman Sachs was mandated on several deals including the initial public offering of Saudi Arabia's Arabian Centres (SE:4321), the sale of a stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SE:2010) to state oil giant Saudi Aramco, and merger talks between Saudi Arabia's Riyad Bank (SE:1010) and National Commercial Bank (SE:1180) .