Bio

Mr. Souaid is the founder and Managing Partner of Growthgate Partners. Prior to forming GP in late 2006, Mr. Souaid was MD of Global Investment Banking at HSBC Bank (Middle East) from May 2000, where he joined as a result of the acquisition of CCF by HSBC. At HSBC Mr. Souaid was responsible for regional activities in the key areas of corporate finance, privatization, M&A, corporate restructurings, and equity capital raising (Private Placements and IPOs). His experience in the Middle East started in 1995, and has encompassed all GCC markets, the Levant, Egypt, Morocco, as well as Iraq and Iran, covering various sectors including banking, telecoms, minerals & mining and oil & gas. Mr. Souaid successfully led several privatization mandates in the Middle East including: Industries of Qatar (Qatar); Arab Potash Company and Jordan Phosphate Mining Co. (Jordan); Oman Telecommunications Company (Oman); Emirates Building Materials Company “Arkan” and Emirates Feedstock & Mineral Water Company “Agthia” (UAE); and the Dual Mobile Telephony Operators (Lebanon). In 2006, Mr. Souaid has advised on and led, landmark equity offerings including the regional IPO of Dana Gas, the first privately-held natural gas company in the Middle East, and the international IPO of Investcom, the leading emerging markets telecom. In the field of M&A, Mr. Souaid has, amongst other deals, advised BaTelco (Bahrain) on its acquisition of Umniah Telecom (Jordan) and, TECOM (U.A.E.) on its acquisition of ‘Inter-Route’ the EU broadband network operator. He has also advised HSBC on its acquisition of Dar Al Salam Bank (Iraq). Prior to joining HSBC/CCF, Mr. Souaid was MD of Corporate Finance at Middle East Capital Group, a regional merchant bank partly owned by the IFC, NCB and Barclays Bank, where he advised various regional companies on floatations on the Beirut, Amman and Cairo Stock Exchanges. He also led-managed a number of cross-border M&A transactions, including the acquisition of Mobil Oil assets and facilities in the Lebanon by the Baksh Group of Saudi Arabia, as well as the strategic corporate alliance between Emirates Bank International (UAE) and Bank of Beirut. Mr. Souaid has led, between 1990 and 1994, a successful career as a corporate finance attorney in New York working at Gordon Hurwitz Butowsky Weitzen Shalov & Wein a leading Wall Street law firm specialized in M&A and securities offerings. Mr. Souaid holds an LLB from the Jesuit School of Law at St. Joseph University (Lebanon); an LLM from Harvard Law School, and Executive Program Certificates from Harvard Business School in the areas of Corporate Valuation and Restructuring. Mr. Souaid is member of the New York State Bar Association.