Essdar Capital, a newly established specialised principal finance and advisory firm, has been granted two licences by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate and establish two entities in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

From the DIFC, Essdar Capital Limited will offer a full range of advisory and financial services, including arrangement of securitised, hybrid and subordinated debt, said an official spokesman.

With Essdar Capital Limited’s highly qualified and experienced management team responsible for some of the pioneering transactions in the region, it is exceedingly well positioned to accommodate the financing needs of the Middle East’s largest issuers.

Essdar Capital Managers Limited, the asset management arm of Essdar Capital, will provide investment opportunities in its funds business to both large institutional investors as well as the region’s most sophisticated private investors in key industry sectors such as  infrastructure (transportation, energy, water and electricity, telecommunications), commercial and residential real estate as well as consumer finance.

"As the fastest growing financial centre in the world, the DIFC is committed to providing a broad range of financial instruments to cater for the needs of the region’s investor community. We are delighted to welcome Essdar Capital to the DIFC community and we are confident that their products and services will become valuable additions to the financial mechanisms already available at the centre," said CEO, DIFC Authority, Nasser Al Shaali.

“Essdar was established to provide objective, global class investment banking and asset management expertise to the region’s major institutions. Its two DIFC companies, Essdar Capital Limited and Essdar Capital Managers Limited are to be the flagship of the Group. Essdar Group is now fully operational with a strong regional team recruited from major global financial centers,” said chairman of the board of Essdar Capital Khalil Foulathi.

“The Essdar team has unique capabilities in combining best of class global product expertise as well as in depth, local knowledge to serve the financing and investment needs of the larger region. We are extremely proud to be DIFC incorporated with licences from the DFSA which shows our commitment to the highest levels of integrity, transparency and professionalism,” said CEO, Essdar Capital, Mohamad Sotoudeh. – TradeArabia News Service