Krishna D Dhanak

Chief Investment Officer @ Gutmann Capital

About

Investment & M&A leader with over 23 years of M&A, private equity, and capital markets experience across the GCC, MENA, and international markets. Structured 100+ complex transactions valued at $28+ bn across diversified sectors. Recognised for origination, execution, and strategic leadership, with a proven record of building and leading high-performance teams across multiple geographies. Trusted for governance, disciplined investment processes, diligence, and stakeholder engagement. Thought leadership: Authored widely recognised GCC macro-sector research reports (https://alpencapital.com/our-research.php) on education, food, healthcare, insurance, retail that enhanced brand equity and originated mandates. Featured on Dubai Eye’s Business Breakfast and other media platforms for market insights. Regularly publish articles on LinkedIn/Medium, sharing insights on M&A, innovation, Gulf investment trends (https://medium.com/@krishna_dhanak).

Country

City

United Arab Emirates

Industry

Venture Capital & Private Equity

Skill

Mergers & Acquisitions, Buy side advisory, Sell-side advsiory, Private Equity, Sector Research Reports, Valuation, Leadership, Corporate Finance, Due Diligence, Business Valuation, Board Advisory Services, Investment Banking, Financial Services, Transaction Origination, Deal Sourcing, Financial Modeling, Business Relationship Management, Strategy Formulation, Negotiation, Financial Reporting

Experience

Chief Investment Officer

Gutmann Capital

2026-2 - Present · 8 mos

United Arab Emirates

Executive Director - M&A, Investments and Partnerships

Wusoom Holding

2024-6 - 2026-1 · 1 yr 8 mos

United Arab Emirates

15+ mandates aggregating >$10bn equity value o AI Tech → Majority stake — $450m, UAE o Diversified Holding Company (AI Tech, Infra, Healthcare, IT, Consumer, etc.) → 50% stake — $285m, UAE o E-commerce, UAE ($6bn) o Ultra luxury hyper car manufacturer, Europe ($2bn) o 5-star hotel, UAE ($300m); Multi-specialty Hospital, UAE ($300m)

Managing Director

Alpen Capital

2008-8 - 2024-5 · 15 yrs 10 mos

United Arab Emirates

100+ mandates aggregating >$11bn equity value across M&A (buy/sell), public & private placements and debt across GCC, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa (deal sheet available). Built MIS, processes and manuals; led and scaled multi-disciplinary teams; nominated company spokesperson. Originated and cultivated senior relationships with PE/FO/banks and corporates; repeat mandates and cross-border expansions. o Al Kabeer Group (Sell-side) → Savola — $302m; UAE/KSA o Monument Bank UK (Equity) — Series B1/B2 → Dubai Investments/Oman Family office — $200m/$285m o Multi-Speciality Clinics (Sell-side) → GFH — $75m; UAE/Bahrain o Al Bayan Water (Sell-side) → Agthia — $45m; UAE/Oman o ACI Motors (Equity) → FMO, CDC, Norfund — $100m; Bangladesh/Europe

Assistant Manager

KPMG

2005-11 - 2008-7 · 2 yrs 9 mos

UAE

20+ mandates aggregating >$5bn equity value (deal sheet available) Led cross-border diligences and trained teams. o EBI → NBD — bank merger — $3.9bn, UAE o Mubadala → Pearl Energy — $870m, UAE / Singapore / Thailand o Abraaj → GMMOS — $125m, UAE Clients consisted of Private Equity houses, Investment Banks, and Corporates from different industry sectors