5th February 2007
Sameer Al Ansari, the newly appointed Executive Chairman for Dubai International Capital LLC (DIC), the international investment arm of conglomerate Dubai Holding, has announced the appointment of Anand Krishnan as Chief Operating Officer.
Formerly DIC’s Chief Financial Officer since January 2006, Krishnan will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of DIC. Krishnan brings with him over 20 years of leadership skills acquired through his institutional experience as a finance professional, both traditional and strategic, in the global market.
Prior to joining DIC, Krishnan was with JPMorgan Chase in New York where he held the position of Managing Director and, prior to that, he held various senior positions including, Chief Financial Officer of the Asia Pacific Region. He has also served on various Accounting, Tax and Risk Committees.
In other changes, Sir Peter Bonfield and Martin Angle have been appointed as non-executive members of the DIC Board.
Sir Peter Bonfield, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is a leading international business executive with over 37 years experience in the fields of electronics, computers and communications. He has operated at board level in the USA, Europe and the Far East, and has held several senior positions including the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Committee of British Telecommunications. During his tenure, BT was the world’s fifth largest telecommunications company, employing over 130,000 people.
Sir Peter is currently the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of NXP. He is a Non-Executive Director of the Board of AstraZeneca PLC and Non-Executive Director H.M.G. Department for Constitutional Affairs. Sir Peter holds Directorships on the Boards of Sony Corporation in Japan; L.M. Ericsson, Sweden; U.S. based Mentor Graphics Corporation Inc.; and Taiwan based semi-conductor company TSMC, where he is also Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Angle is an experienced former FTSE-100 Finance Director. He has held senior board positions in companies controlled by the private equity group Terra Firma, including the Le Meridien Hotel Group and The Waste Recycling Group, one of the largest waste management companies in the UK. He is a member of the council of the University of Warwick, sits on the board of its Business School, and holds other non-executive board positions such as non-executive Chairman of the NEC Group and Celerant Consulting as well as the non-executive Director of Savills.
The changes come in the wake of Al Ansari’s appointment as DIC’s Executive Chairman, announced recently by Dubai Holding Executive Chairman Mohammad Al Gergawi. Al Ansari retains the position of Chief Executive Officer of DIC which he helped found in 2004.
Under Al Ansari, DIC has developed a strategy that involves backing incumbent management and in investing in the businesses it acquires. This approach gives DIC the best chance to deliver value in the long-term and create a good return on its investments. Based on this approach, DIC has created a diverse portfolio of investments which currently stands at $5.5bn of assets under management.
DIC is one of the most active investment companies in the Middle East with total investments standing at approximately US$ 5.5 billion. Its acquisitions include the Tussauds Group, Doncasters Group Limited and the UK-based Travelodge Hotels, as well as a substantial stake in DaimlerChrysler. The company expects the value of its managed assets to quadruple to US $20 billion in the next five years.
