Mara Group Recruits Managing Director of Morgan Stanley as its Third Managing Partner

AsiaNet 53646

DUBAI, UAE, July 8, 2013 / PRN=KYODO JBN/ --

    Mara Group, a pan-African multi sector conglomerate with headquarters in

Dubai, announces the appointment of Bradford M. Gibbs. Brad will serve as the

third Managing Partner of the Group alongside Prashant H. Manek and Ashish J.

Thakkar, and share responsibility for the operations, administration and

strategy of Mara.

    (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130531/618246-a )

    Prior to joining Mara, Brad was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley,

where he worked for thirteen years, executing mergers, acquisitions and capital

markets transactions across a broad array of industries. He was based, at

various junctures, in the New York, London, Frankfurt and Johannesburg offices.

During his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Brad served as Head of South Africa

Investment Banking and Head of EMEA Chemicals, Building Materials and Paper &

Packaging.

    Mara Group is a young and dynamic diversified group of companies,

possessing in-depth knowledge and unrivalled expertise in Africa. Founded by

Ashish J. Thakkar almost two decades ago, the Group started out as a small

family business but has, since then, evolved into an international multi-sector

business with operations in 26 countries, spanning four continents. Mara's

current businesses operate in a broad range of sectors including information

technology (IT) services, business process outsourcing (BPO), a multi-faceted

mobile-enabled online platform, agriculture, real estate, hospitality,

packaging and asset management.

    "We are delighted to bring on board someone of Brad's calibre and

experience as our third Managing Partner. At Mara, we are continuously looking

to further strengthen our management team to help lead the future growth and

development of the Group", says Ashish J. Thakkar, Founder of Mara Group and

Mara Foundation.

    Today, in addition to its core team and as part the Mara network, the Group

benefits from the advice and insight of Michael Buchen and David Burlison,

Managing Directors of Dhabi Holdings, as well as of Marwan Abedin; a seasoned

finance and investment specialist with over 15 years of experience. Marwan also

serves as the CEO of Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) and the Dubai Financial

Support Fund (DFSF).

    Contact:

    Sabina Lindstedt

    Group Communications Director

    +971-567-798-974 or sl@mara.com

    SOURCE: Mara Group