Ex-Citi banker to join Terra Firma

Greg Gille
@unquotenews
06 June 2011

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Terra Firma is set to appoint Kamal Tabet, a former Citigroup investment banker, as managing director and head of investor relations, according to media reports.

The move will surprise many in the industry given the showdown between Guy Hands' firm and Citigroup over the EMI case at the end of last year. The music publisher was seized by Citi in February, wiping out a £1.6bn investment for Terra Firma.

Tabet, however, left the banking group in early 2009, after having worked there for 15 years. He notably spent five years as global head of Citi's Financial Entrepreneurs Group, which encompasses the bank's global private equity investment banking, fundraising and private placement activities. Tabet was therefore familiar with Terra Firma, having placed some of its funds over the years.

Future fundraising efforts could be tough for Terra Firma, as a third of its current vehicle – Terra Firma Capital Partners III, which closed on €5.4bn in 2007 – was lost in the EMI debacle. Hands has always maintained that the rest of the fund was performing well and that he retained his LPs' confidence.