Carlyle bulks up MENA team in Turkey

The Carlyle Group announced the firm hired an Ernst & Young veteran from the region to advise the firm’s investments within the country.

The Carlyle Group appointed Can Deldag as managing director to advise the firm’s investment activity in Turkey as part of the firm’s growing MENA (Middle East and North African) team.

Deldag will be based in Istanbul and continue the MENA team’s investment focus on “healthy, growing companies” with transactions including leveraged buyouts, growth capital, majority and minority stakes in private companies and stakes in public companies.

He joins the firm from Ernst & Young where he served as head of transaction advisory services for Turkey and head of M&A services in south east Europe, a unit which he grew to be the largest M&A team in Turkey, with a specialization across telecom and energy industries. Deldag was with Ernst & Young since 2002, when the firm merged with Arthur Andersen, where he served as worldwide partner and head of M&A for Turkey and the Balkan region including Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia until the merger.

Walid Musallam, managing director and head of the MENA team, said, “Can brings significant M&A expertise, sector knowledge and a track record of success in Turkey.”

The hire follows a series of moves by Carlyle to expand its activities in the region. The firm named Hassan El-Khatib managing director in Egypt in January of this year, and formed the MENA group this past November with offices in Cairo, Dubai and Istanbul.