(Bloomberg) -- Wall Street advisory firm PJT Partners plans to increase its headcount in Saudi Arabia following the acquisition of Dubai-based deNovo Partners, founder Paul Taubman told Bloomberg TV in an interview.
DeNovo earlier this year secured a license to operate in the kingdom, joining prominent boutique firms including Moelis & Co. and Rothschild & Co. to formally enter a market that increasingly plays a major role in global finance.
The combined PJT-deNovo entity would “absolutely” move staff to Riyadh, Taubman said. “That will follow that license and we will, in a very patient way, continue to build out our capabilities.”
Saudi Arabia has increasingly become a draw for Wall Street’s top banks looking to advise the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund on its overseas acquisitions or one of many domestic companies considering a share sale on the local bourse.
Lazard Inc. recently received a so-called regional headquarters license from the Saudi Ministry of Investment, the latest Wall Street firm to comply with Saudi Arabia’s rules for foreign firms to set up their Middle Eastern base in the kingdom, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.
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PJT last week announced it was taking over deNovo, a deal that reunited ex-Morgan Stanley dealmaker Taubman with former colleague May Nasrallah who set up her own boutique in 2010.
Taubman said the initial focus, before they move ahead with the Saudi expansion, was to integrate the two businesses. PJT and deNovo had previously collaborated on deals through a 2020 agreement, working with Middle East-based entities including sovereign funds, companies and family groups.
Nasrallah said the transaction meant there was a “a lot more engine behind” their efforts in targeting clients including wealth funds, multinationals, regional government organizations and corporates looking to grow outside the Middle East.
“As their ambitions grow and globalize, we globalize with them,” she said.
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