AHMED HEIKAL

Chairman and Founder

Chairman and Founder

Dr. Heikal is the founder of Qalaa Holdings (QH). In the past 10 years QH transformed from a general partnership private equity manager with EGP 2 million in capital to a leading investment holdings firm investing in Egypt and East Africa with EGP 9.1 billion in capital. The firm is a leading investor in a number of platform companies in the energy, cement, transportation & logistics, mining, consumer finance and retail sectors.

Prior to founding Qalaa Holdings, Dr. Heikal had joined EFG Hermes in 1992. At the time, EFG Hermes had a capital of EGP 250,000. Dr. Heikal was instrumental in transforming EFG Hermes from a small financial consultancy into the leading investment bank in the Arab world and emerging markets. Dr. Heikal was an executive board member and Managing Director of EFG Hermes Holding. He was also head of asset management (1994-95), head of investment banking (1996-97), head of securities brokerage (1997-99), and head of private equity (1999-2001). He spearheaded highly successful private equity investments, including the creation of Egypt’s leading IT company (Raya Holding) and Egypt’s largest natural gas distribution company (Genco). He also raised three rounds of financing for regional mobile telecommunications operator Orascom Telecom and led the IPOs of Orascom Construction Industries and Orascom Hotels, among other landmark transactions.

Dr. Heikal holds a Master’s degree and a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from Stanford University.

HISHAM EL-KHAZINDAR

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Prior to co-founding Qalaa Holdings, Mr. El-Khazindar was Executive Director of Investment Banking at EFG Hermes where he advised on landmark M&A and IPO transactions in the region, and where he started his career in 1996. During 1999-2000, he was on secondment to Goldman Sachs in London. Mr. El-Khazindar serves on the boards of several leading regional companies including El Sewedy Electric and Magrabi Retail, and on the Advisory Committee of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. He also serves as a Trustee of the American University in Cairo, as a Trustee of the Cairo Children’s Cancer Hospital, and as a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Middle East Leadership Initiative. In 2013 Mr. El-Khazindar was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He holds a BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo (1996) and an MBA from Harvard Business School (2003).

KARIM SADEK

Managing Director

Prior to joining Qalaa Holdings, Mr. Sadek was Managing Director of the Arab Investment Company (ABIC), one of the largest private-equity firms in Egypt. During his tenure, Mr. Sadek returned a substantial part of the firm’s total investments (valued at over EGP 500 million [US$ 90.91 million]) to ABIC’s shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. Mr. Sadek holds a Master’s in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the Business School for Financial Markets at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. He has extensive experience in corporate banking and credit risk assessment through his work both at the Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Arab Bank.