Goldman said to name AlDossari Saudi investment banking head

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has hired Eyas AlDossari as head of investment banking for Saudi Arabia as the U.S. bank looks to expand in the kingdom, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the appointment isn’t yet public, Bloomberg reports.

AlDossari was most recently an associate director for investment banking advisory at HSBC Holdings Plc’s unit in the country, where he’d worked for five years, according to his LinkedIn page. His team was involved in the initial public offering of Saudi Arabian Oil Co., which the kingdom has said could value the state oil company at $2 trillion.

Representatives for Goldman Sachs and HSBC Saudi Arabia declined to comment.

Goldman Sachs has been expanding its business in Saudi Arabia as the country looks to boost foreign investment and sell off state assets, diversifying its oil-based economy. The bank was one of the firms that helped arrange Saudi Arabia’s debut international bond sale last year, and the kingdom’s Capital Market Authority has given the bank approval to trade local equities, the regulator said in a statement Sunday.

HSBC has also grown its team in the country, doubling its investment banking group to about 18 in the past year, one of the people said. HSBC named Kapil Chadda vice chairman of its global banking business in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, with a focus on developing the business in Saudi Arabia, a person familiar with the matter said earlier this month.

Banks are hiring in Riyadh in anticipation of a boom in fees as the government ramps up efforts to wean the economy off oil. Al Rajhi Capital has appointed Sameer Nawaz, formally co-head of investment banking at Saudi Fransi Capital, to build an investment banking team at the Islamic lender, people familiar with the matter had said.