Houlihan Lokey, the global investment bank, announced that Zade Zalatimo will join the firm in September as a Managing Director in the firm’s Corporate Finance business. Zalatimo will be based in Dubai and will spearhead the expansion of the Private Funds Group and contribute to Houlihan Lokey’s broader advisory capabilities in the region.
Zalatimo will join Houlihan Lokey from The Carlyle Group, where he was the senior executive officer of Carlyle MENA responsible for leading the firm’s business activities in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. His responsibilities included developing and maintaining relationships with family offices, endowments, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds in the region. Prior to The Carlyle Group, he was a Partner and CEO, Saudi Arabia, for Investcorp in Bahrain, responsible for the strategic direction and deliverables for the business in addition to overseeing the majority of Investcorp’s institutional clients in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
“Zade has an outstanding track record raising capital across a broad range of investors in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, his many years of in-house experience at Carlyle and Investcorp further supports our ability to provide general partner clients with the benefits of a more strategic service offering,” said Bob Brown, Global Head of the Private Funds Group. “Zade’s hire is evidence of the firm’s expansion of its Corporate Finance capabilities in the region as well as the growth of the Private Funds Group globally. We’re confident that he will be tremendously valuable to our clients and an excellent cultural fit with Houlihan Lokey. We look forward to welcoming him aboard soon,” he added.
“With its unparalleled blend of fundraising and advisory experience, and combined with Houlihan Lokey’s depth of financial sponsor relationships, the Private Funds Group is a truly differentiated practice in the world of placement agents. I’m excited to partner with my new colleagues in the Private Funds Group and across the firm to deliver the superior client service for which Houlihan Lokey is known,” said Mr. Zalatimo.
Since the formation of the Private Funds Group following the acquisition of BearTooth Advisors in May, Houlihan Lokey has added a number of officers to the group in addition to Zalatimo. These hires include Colin Hannaway, a Director based in New York who joined from Jefferies; Tom Carlyle, a Vice President based in London who joined from Coller Capital; and John McCarthy, a Vice President based in New York who joined from American Capital.
“These hires meaningfully enhance the capabilities of the Private Funds Group and reflect our recognition of the substantial opportunities that exist for the firm and our clients. More importantly, however, this growth demonstrates the firm’s commitment to delivering a truly unique and differentiated agency and advisory service offering to general partners around the world,” Brown continued.
Zalatimo holds a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of Michigan and an MBA in Finance from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.