(Bloomberg) -- Alvarez & Marsal Inc. has hired two dealmakers from Barclays Plc in Dubai, as the firm better known for its restructuring work expands its franchise focused on banking deals across Europe and the Middle East.
Quentin Mulet-Marquis, who headed the UK bank’s financial institutions group in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa, will move to A&M in the coming months, according to people familiar with the matter. Another FIG banker, Jeremie Benhaim, is also set to join, they said, asking not to be named because the information is private.
Representatives for Barclays didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A&M declined to comment.
Mulet-Marquis and Benhaim’s appointments coincide with an uptick in banking consolidation across the Gulf region where lenders, most recently in Kuwait and Bahrain, are pursuing deals to create scale.
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Some banks from the United Arab Emirates have been targeting even bigger prizes with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC exploring an audacious takeover of Standard Chartered Plc more than a year ago.
On the other hand, US-based A&M, which is one of the world’s leading turnaround specialists, has been building out its M&A platform focused on financial institutions to rival investment banks. Earlier this year, it appointed a former Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley banker to head that segment in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Barclays is among the few lenders in the Middle East with a dedicated FIG offering. Recently, the bank advised Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan on its acquisition of Turkey-based TAM Finans. Over the years, it’s worked on a merger between three Abu Dhabi banks among other deals.
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