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Shirish Saraf | |
|---|---|
 Saraf in 2011 | |
| Born | 12 October 1967 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Private Equity Investor and Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Investing, Finance, Banking, Private Equity & Philanthropy |
Shirash Saraf is the Founder, Vice Chairman and member of the Compensation Committee of Samena Capital. [1] [2] He is also the Investment Manager and Director of the Samena Special Situations Funds and Samena Limestone Holdings.
Samena Capital is an Asia, India and MENA-focused alternative investments group, co-established in 2008 by Shirish Saraf and key partners from a cross section of industries and regions. This name was chosen due to the markets that Samena invests in. These are the Indian Subcontinent, Asia, Middle East and North Africa – a region collectively known as SAMENA. Also in ancient Buddhist script, Samena means "together" or "collective", which reflects the collective investment model the company is based on. The company and its subsidiaries employ 26 people in 3 locations worldwide, and has 48 shareholders.
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Prior to founding Samena Capital, Saraf was a Co-Founder and Managing Director of Abraaj Capital, [3] which grew to become one of the largest global private equity firms managing in excess of US$6 billion. During his tenure at Abraaj Capital he was involved in several landmark private equity and block purchase transactions such as the buyout of Aramex, EFG Hermes, Egyptian Fertilizer Company, Arabtec, ONIC, SAOG Oman, Amwal Capital (Qatar) and also, he pioneered and managed the special situations funds.
The Abraaj Group was a private equity firm operating in six continents. The firm was founded by Pakistani businessman Arif Naqvi and was based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Private equity typically refers to investment funds, generally organized as limited partnerships, that buy and restructure companies that are not publicly traded.
Aramex is an international express, mail delivery and logistics services company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company was founded by Jordanian Fadi Ghandour and Bill Kingson in 1982. It is the first Arab-based company to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Aramex is listed on the Dubai Financial Market. Bashar Obeid serves as the company's CEO. Aramex has approximately 13,800 employees in 54 countries and a network consisting of 40 independent express companies.
In June 2014, Saraf led the acquisition of a significant stake in RAK Ceramics PSC, a company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and one of the world's largest ceramics manufacturers with annual revenues of approximately US$1 billion.
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (A.D.X.) [ADSM] is a stock exchange in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was established on 15 November 2000 to trade shares of UAE companies. There are trading locations in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Fujeirah, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) is a different exchange that trades shares of other public UAE companies but investors can also trade ADSM shares with some of the brokers based at DFM.
Saraf holds numerous directorship and leadership positions across Samena's portfolio companies. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Committee of RAK Ceramics, where previously he was the Chairman of the Audit Committee and Member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee. Mr Saraf is also a Board Member of RAK Logistics (previously Alliance Global Logistics). In July 2016, Mr Saraf became a Member of the Board of Directors for Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited, India and in August 2016, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of Tejas Networks, India. In November 2016, Mr Saraf was appointed to the Board of Directors of Dynamatic Technologies Limited, India.
RAK Ceramics P.J.S.C is one of the largest ceramics brands in the world. Headquartered in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, RAK Ceramics has an annual production capacity of 110 million square metres of tiles, 5 million pieces of sanitaryware, 24 million pieces of porcelain tableware and 600,000 pieces of faucets. The company employs 15,000 people across its operations in the UAE, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Europe, Australia and Singapore.
Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited (MTWL) is a group venture owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M), which manufactures scooters and motorcycles. Mahindra Two Wheelers Limited was founded in 2008, when Mahindra & Mahindra Limited acquired the business assets of Kinetic Motor Company Limited. MTWL has partnered with Taiwan's Sanyang Industry Company (SYM) to help develop its scooter portfolio, and with Italy-based Engines Engineering for research and product design.
Saraf has previously held numerous directorships including Aramex Holdings, Abraaj Capital, Commercial Bank of Oman SAOG, EFG Hermes and Amwal Capital (Qatar).
EFG Hermes Holding S.A.E. is an Egyptian investment bank present in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and specializes in securities brokerage, asset management, investment banking, private equity and research. EFG Hermes serves a range of clients including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, corporations, financial institutions, high-net-worth clients and individual customers. EFG Hermes is listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) and London (LSE) stock exchanges. EFG Hermes has offices in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon with over 800 people from 25 nationalities. They serve clients from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States. EFG Hermes owns a 63.7% majority stake in the Lebanese commercial bank, Credit Libanais.
In 1998, Saraf founded Oriel Investment Company, which emerged as one of the leading regional corporate finance firms in a short period of time. While at Oriel Investment, he became one of the largest founding shareholders of US-based E Ink Corporation, the world's leading developer and provider of electronic paper and displays.
Corporate finance is an area of finance that deals with sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize or increase shareholder value. Although it is in principle different from managerial finance which studies the financial management of all firms, rather than corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the financial problems of all kinds of firms.
E Ink Corporation is a subsidiary of E Ink Holdings (EIH), a Taiwanese Holding Company (8069.TWO) manufacturer of electrophoretic displays (EPDs), a kind of electronic paper. E Ink is located in Billerica, Massachusetts, and was co-founded in 1997 by undergraduates J.D. Albert & Barrett Comiskey, Joseph Jacobson, Jerome Rubin and Russ Wilcox. Two years later, E Ink partnered with Philips to develop and market the technology. Jacobson and Comiskey are listed as inventors on the original patent filed in 1996. Albert, Comiskey and Jacobsen were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in May 2016. In 2005, Philips sold the electronic paper business as well as its related patents to Prime View International (PVI).
Electronic paper and e-paper, also sometimes electronic ink or e-ink, are display devices that mimic the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. Unlike conventional backlit flat panel displays that emit light, electronic paper displays reflect light like paper. This may make them more comfortable to read, and provide a wider viewing angle than most light-emitting displays. The contrast ratio in electronic displays available as of 2008 approaches newspaper, and newly (2008) developed displays are slightly better. An ideal e-paper display can be read in direct sunlight without the image appearing to fade.
In September 2013, Asian Investor listed Saraf as one of Asia's 25 most influential people in Private Equity.
