Evolvence Capital Team

We recruit top-notch talent with a wide range of work experiences, academic backgrounds, creative thinking acumen, skills and capabilities. We celebrate diversity and recognize the benefit of a team with broad asset class experience as well as a deep understanding of private equity, hedge funds and financial engineering. A deep pool of experienced and talented investment professionals supports every aspect of our business. Our team has extensive transactional and operational capabilities ranging from acquisitions, industry consolidations, and other special situations investments.

Senior Management

Khaled Al-Muhairy Founder and CEO, Evolvence Capital

Khaled Al Muhairy is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Evolvence Capital and has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development.  He primarily focuses his efforts on strategic direction, business development, and investor and regulatory relations.

He has extensive capital raising and investment experience and holds operational management and board mandates of various Evolvence Capital initiatives. He is the chairman of the Evolvence India Fund, the first independent India focused Fund of Funds; Repton Dubai, the first overseas partner school of the prestigious UK public school; Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund, a private equity fund focusing on pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in India; and Evolvence Education Holding, formed to promote educational institutions in the GCC.
Mr. Al-Muhairy also currently serves on the board of Ithmar Capital, Arady Real Estate, and Amzaan. Prior to founding Evolvence Capital in 2000, Mr. Al-Muhairy worked in the North America Department of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) where he specialised in technology and telecommunication equity investments. Mr. Al-Muhairy holds a B.Sc in Finance from Saint Louis University, Missouri, USA.

Robert Pardi Jr., Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Pardi is responsible for ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective through the development, implementation and improvement of the organizational systems which create, deliver and monitor the firm's products to ensure sustainable growth of the company’s product lines. He is also responsible for locating/proposing potential business deals as well as overseeing the conceptualization and strategic fit of the corporate product pipe-line. He works directly with both the underlying division teams and the Executive Committee assisting in; strategy formulation, execution and integration of new venture with company strategies and operations.

Prior to co-founding Evolvence Capital, Mr. Pardi held the position of Portfolio Manager for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. He was a Senior Equity Analyst for Glickenhaus & Company, and also worked as an Investor Relations Director for Dewe Rogerson Inc. He initially entered the investment industry at Royce Investment Group. Mr. Pardi holds an MBA from Columbia University, USA.

Ezaldeen El-Araj, Chief Financial Officer

Ezaldeen El Araj is the Chief Financial Officer of Evolvence Capital Limited and has been managing Evolvence's public market investments in the GCC countries since its inception. Mr. El Araj also acts as Chief Financial Officer of Evolvence India Fund and non-executive board member of several GCC companies. Mr. El Araj started his professional career in banking, focused on various aspects of corporate and investment banking including research, equities brokerage, credit risk and buy-side portfolio management. Mr. El Araj graduated with an MBA from Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma, USA. Mr.

Claude Vuillieme, Chief Legal Officer

Claude Vuillieme is the Chief Legal Officer for Evolvence Capital Limited and has overall responsibility for all legal and compliance matters for Evolvence's various funds. Prior to joining Evolvence in October 2008, Ms. Vuillieme was Of Counsel with O'Melveny & Myers LLP's New York office and previously an attorney with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP's New York office. Ms. Vuillieme has more than 15 years of legal experience working on a wide range of transactions including cross-border M&A, international joint ventures, corporate finance and project finance. Ms. Vuillieme has advised major private equity sponsors, hedge funds, senior management and investment bankers on transaction-related legal issues and led deal teams on major transactions. Ms. Vuillieme graduated with a JD from Columbia University, New York, USA and from Paris II Pantheon - Sorbonne, Paris, France. Ms. Vuillieme is a member of the New York State Bar and Paris Bar.

K.I Varghese, Head of Finance & Administration

Mr. K.I. Varghese is the Head of Finance & Administration at Evolvence Capital.  He is responsible for handling the company’s corporate accounting functions including monitoring capital distributions, coordinating capital contributions, and day-to-day operations and administration. Mr. Varghese has over 20 years of experience in Administration and Investment Finance with leading institutional investors, trading and assets management companies. Prior to joining Evolvence Capital, he worked for an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government on their internal auditing and investments administration desks. Other stints include working as the Chief Administrator for an interior design company; handling the finance and administration department of a leading agriculture trading company in the Sultanate of Oman; and overseeing the operations of a New Delhi based Indian family office.

Investment Professionals

Ajit Kumar, Managing Director Evolvence India Fund

Ajit Kumar leads Evolvence India Fund, an India focused fund of funds sponsored by Evolvence Capital.  In this capacity he overlooks the core operations of the fund, from deal origination to exit as well  as investor relations. Mr. Kumar serves on the Board of some of the co-investment companies as well as the Investment Committees of the underlying funds.   Prior to joining EIF, Mr. Kumar worked with Galfar Group, a leading family office in Oman where he was managing a diversified portfolio of investments.  During his investment career spread over 18 years he has been involved in Private Equity investments in more than 130 Funds from Venture, Mezzanine, Growth Capital, Buy Outs, Secondaries and Real Estate across various geographies. He has been involved in investments in Hedge Funds, Equity and Equity linked Securities, Debt Securities, Structured Products, Special Situations, Event Driven strategies, Distressed Opportunities  etc. 

Mr. Kumar has also been responsible for several direct and co-investment deals at his previous workplace.  He has been investing in Private Equity in India since the early 1990s and has seen several cycles in this asset class. Mr. Kumar brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of diverse industries such as Banking and Financial Services, Steel, Chemical, Marine and Food Processing, Services, Construction and Engineering etc., through his representation on the board and sub committees of various companies. He holds an MBA in Finance from Madurai Kamaraj University, India and had successfully completed a program on Futures and Options from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, USA.

Benjamin J. Lee, Managing Director and Head of Structured Finance

Benjamin Lee is a Managing Director and Head of Structured Finance for Evolvence Capital Limited and has overall responsibility for structured products. Mr. Lee has approximately 14 years of experience with originating and executing leveraged finance, M&A, restructuring, private placement and equity transactions with extensive capital raising and investment experience working on numerous leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations in addition to its associated financing transactions. Mr. Lee has led deal teams through rigorous credit committee processes, successfully obtaining over $21 billion in credit commitments to support leveraged buyouts, management buyouts and corporate debt refinancings as well as negotiated and structured commitment packages, credit agreements and indentures. Prior to joining Evolvence in September 2008, Mr. Lee was an Executive Director at UBS Investment Bank within its Financial Sponsors Leveraged Finance Group and previously an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corporation. Mr. Lee graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA.

Nitin Kripalani, Director, Investments

Nitin Kripalani is a Director at Evolvence Capital Limited, focusing on private equity investments in India and the GCC. Mr. Kripalani has more than nine years of operations and investment experience in equity research, corporate finance, corporate transaction structuring and fund analysis. Mr. Kripalani played an instrumental role in launching and operating Evolvence's India platform that manages approximately USD 450 million in assets. Prior to joining Evolvence, Mr. Kripalani was involved with the research team of Aspect Huntley Financial Services, focusing on companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Mr. Kripalani graduated with a Master of Business (with merit) from University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia and is also a CFA charter holder.

Matthew Shaw, Chief Investment Officer - Real Estate

Matthew Shaw manages all Evolvence Capital's real estate activities. Mr. Shaw has more than 20 years experience in real estate, 6 years of which has been in Dubai covering the GCC, 8 years has been in various parts of Asia and the balance has been in the UK. In Dubai Mr. Shaw has previously worked for an HSBC sponsored real estate fund and the Dubai International Financial Centre and prior to moving to Dubai Mr. Shaw spent 12 years with Jones Lang LaSalle in Taiwan, Singapore, India, Malaysia and the UK.  Mr. Shaw is a member of the RICS, a district council committee member of the ULI and has a BSc (Hons) in Estate Management from Oxford Brookes University.

Gihad Hallak, Trading Director

Gihad Hallak joined Evolvence to be a Fund Manager for the MENA Hedge Fund platform. Mr Hallak has twelve years of experience in equity derivatives trading, credit and FX options, market making, and pricing of convertible bonds in Germany and United Kingdom with Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank. Before joining Evolvence Capital, he was at BlueCrest Management in London. He started his career with Lyon Consultant and Dresdner Kleinwort Banson in Paris as quantitative analyst. He is currently developing an in-house trading system. Gihad Hallak holds an Engineering degree from Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP).

Rohit S. Batra, Vice President, Evolvence India Fund

Rohit Batra is the Vice President (Investments) at Evolvence India Fund, an India focused fund of funds sponsored by Evolvence Capital Limited and has overall responsibility for investments and portfolio management. Mr. Batra has approximately 8 years of experience in institutional broking, consulting, and private equity. His role at EIF, involves originating and executing equity transactions which involves pre –investment due diligence including valuation and structuring followed by post investment monitoring through routine meetings and interactions with the underlying portfolio companies (funds). Prior to joining Evolvence in April 2006, Mr. Batra was an Analyst at Bond & Pecaro, a boutique US consulting outfit with a niche focus on appraisals of media assets as a part of M&A in the Broadcasting, Print & Cable industries. Mr. Batra graduated with a B.A. in International Economics from George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA.

Ismail Zorob, CFA Trader

Ismail has four years of experience with exposure to various alternative asset classes. He joined Evolvence in 2006 as a financial analyst performing market analysis and feasibility studies for potential green field investments. He later became a junior trader with Evolvence MENA Hedge Fund, monitoring regional equity and debt markets, executing trades, and supporting the team in setting up the fund’s investment strategy. Currently he is assisting in the development of an in-house trading system and trading for Evolvence Capital proprietary portfolio. Ismail holds a BBA degree with distinction from the American University of Beirut. He is also a holder of the CFA designation.

Sagar R. Agarwal, Associate, Investments

Sagar Agarwal is an Associate (Investments) at Evolvence India Fund, an India focused fund of funds sponsored by Evolvence Capital and has overall responsibility for investments and portfolio management. Mr. Agarwal has three years of experience in private equity, strategic consulting, mergers & acquisitions, valuations and equity research. Prior to Evolvence, Mr. Agarwal worked as an Analyst at Netscribes India Pvt Ltd on the Corporate Finance team, where he assisted in conducting investment and business research, providing strategic consulting and related financial services to clients globally. Mr. Agarwal holds an MBA from SP Jain Center of Management, India and is currently pursuing CFA Level 3 from CFA Institute, USA and MS Finance from ICFAI University, India.

Paul Runge, Analyst

Paul Runge has been working with Evolvence Capital as a Financial Analyst since October 2009. Prior to joining Evolvence, Paul earned his B.S. in Business Management, from Babson College, Massachusetts, USA. During his four years of study, Paul also successfully completed a semester abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

MIDDLE EAST:

• > CREDIT OPPORTUNITY FUND
• > EDUCATION HOLDING
• > GINZA FASHION
• > REPTON DUBAI

INDIA:

• > INDIA FUND
• > INDIA LIFE SCIENCES FUND

"We specialize in creating investment strategies designed to maximize unrecognized risk and reward trade-offs."