Investcorp Appoints Ex-Morgan Stanley Banker as Saudi Arabia CEO

(Bloomberg) -- Investcorp Bank BSC, the Bahrain-based private equity firm, appointed former Morgan Stanley banker Gabriel Aractingi as chief executive officer for its business in Saudi Arabia.

Aractingi, previously head of Morgan Stanley's operations in the kingdom for three years, has been with Investcorp since last year as a managing director, according to an emailed statement from Investcorp on Tuesday. Aractingi was the U.S. lender's head of private wealth management in the Middle East and North Africa region and left the bank in August.

Investcorp, best known for taking luxury brands Tiffany & Co. and Gucci Ltd. public under founder Nemir Kirdar, is embarking on a new growth plan under Executive Chairman Mohammed Al Ardhi. The plan includes rebuilding its hedge fund business and investing more in European and U.S. real estate, the company said last year.

The firm completed the acquisition of 3i Group Plc's debt management arm in March, which about doubled its assets under management to about $22 billion. Founded in 1982, Investcorp was one of the first companies from the Gulf to channel capital into the U.S. and Europe.

The money manager has also been active in Saudi Arabia. The company bought a stake in Al Borg Medical Laboratories in November and is said to be preparing for the initial public offering of Leejam Sports Co., operator of Fitness Time gym chain. It sold a stake in L'Azurde Co. for Jewelry last year and the initial public offering raised 477.3 million riyals ($127 million), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Martin in Dubai at mmartin128@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Shaji Mathew