CES Team

Markus Giebel is a German national and a Partner at CES Investments. He was previously the CEO of Deyaar Development PJSC, a publicly traded real estate company. At Deyaar, Markus was responsible for the development of over one million square metres of residential and commercial real estate, with a combined value of over US$5 billion. Before joining Deyaar, he was the youngest ever Vice President of Corning, a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. He holds several board positions and has over 20 patents in his name. He has received several awards, including the CEO Award, the Leadership Award, the Entrepreneur Award and Inventor of the Year Award, amongst others. Markus graduated with a master’s degree from the Technical University of Munich and an MBA from the Swiss Business School.

Gary Peters is a Partner at CES Investments with over 30 years of finance and investment leadership experience, having worked with some of the most prominent sovereign wealth funds and Royal Family offices in Saudi Arabia and overseas. Gary was the Managing Partner and CIO for the Rhodivm Funds, a global investment fund, where Gary spearheaded and managed AUM of over US$5 billion in real estate and technology verticals. Previously, he was Global Investment Director at Brunei Investment Agency, the SWF of Brunei, with over US$70 billion in assets around the world and Chief Investment Officer to one of the most prominent Private Royal Family Offices in Saudi Arabia with investments into real estate, energy, aviation and defense technology. Gary has engaged with global government leaders and some of the largest family offices in APAC, Europe and the Middle East over his professional career.

Jurgen E. Herre is a German national and a Partner and Board Member at CES. He was Managing Director of Hines Europe and member of the worldwide investment committee of the Hines real estate funds. Hines is a privately-owned globally leading real estate development and investment company. Hines operates in 24 countries and has over US$ 133 billion under management. During his career Jurgen was involved in real estate projects with a value of more than US$ 25 billion. Prior to Hines, he worked as a real estate investment banker for a leading German banking consortium and he is currently a Board Member of various companies.

Olivier Richaud is a French national and the Chief Financial Officer of CES Investments. He was previously a senior manager with Apex Group in Luxemburg, in charge of the corporate client portfolio. He has extensive experience in mezzanine financing and was responsible for the mezzanine debt portfolio for GS Lux Management Services. Olivier was the senior advisor for Alter Domus, with a focus on private equity and listed US companies. He holds several degrees, including a master’s in Management (audit/banking) from Audencia ESC Nantes.

Ward Ferraye is responsible for compliance at CES Investments. Ward is an experienced compliance consultant with a proven track record in the financial services industry. Ward not only designed the compliance manuals for many companies, but also provided the relevant training modules to embed a compliance culture within each entity. Skilled in administration, management, payroll and invoicing he adds a multifunctional role to the organisation. Ward has a strong background in finance, including an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Certification from ACAMS.

Adrian D’Souza is the risk officer at CES Investments. Adrian graduated from Brunel University London and holds certificates in Anti-Money Laundering and Compliance. He has over seven years’ experience and formerly worked with Vistra Business Services, previously Total Solutions Middle East, where he acted as a single point of contact for regulators and authorities for all matters related to anti-money laundering and compliance. He was also responsible for reviewing the company’s business risk assessment and the establishment of mitigation procedures.

Cristina Ciubotaru is the Head of Client Relations at CES Investments. Cristina previously worked at Emirates Airlines and was the Client Relations Manager at Aspersa. During her career, Cristina worked within multicultural environments where attentiveness and strong cultural awareness was mandatory. Cristina speaks four languages and holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Greece. She also holds a Diploma from the University of Krakow.

Laura Patalauskaite is a Vice President at CES Investments. Miss Patalauskaite is a finance professional, eleven years of which Laura has worked in Banking, including leading regional and international banks and financial institutions. Advised on and successfully managed a high-volume investment banking portfolio for diverse HNWI & UHNWI and corporate clients. Miss Laura graduated with a Master’s degree from City University London and Business Management& Finance from Westminster University London.

Walid Hasbini is an Associate Director at CES Investments. Walid has experience working at Berkshire Hathaway Gulf Properties as a financial analyst and strategic planner. He also worked closely with the investor relations team to identify and pitch to investors. Walid also has experience working with the Finance division of FedEx Middle East where he prepared budget plans and rolled out an implementation and monitoring program. He also reviewed management reporting and provided analysis of regional P&L along with recommendations to address opportunities for improvements. Walid holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a focus in Finance from the University of San Francisco.

Edvinas Patalauskas is the head of technology. He is a blockchain and crypto currency professional, with over 8 years’ experience in this sector. Successfully established and managed three large crypto mining farms in Europe. Advised and managed a high-volume crypto investments portfolio of private clients. He also does live trading on cryptocurrency markets.

Klaus Holscher is a German national and a member of the CES Advisory Committee. He has been engaged in the German real estate market since 1987. He founded Kensington Luxury Real Estate Brokers LLC in 2006. Using this company, he built the Engel & Völkers brand as a license partner in the UAE, and the brand Kensington International. With both these brands he led his company to be the Best License Partner worldwide for Engel & Völkers, twice in a row. Klaus has more than 25 years’ international experience in German-based REC in real estate and finance. In Germany, he was responsible for the marketing of luxury real estate for many well-known developers, including Bayerische Hausbau, Deutsche Hausbau and BAYERNAREAL.

Oliver Kuehn is a German national and a member of the CES Advisory Committee. Oliver is one of the most renowned architects in Germany and is headquartered in Berlin. He is a visiting professor at Huaqiao University in China and has a team of over 30 people working for him. Oliver is advising CES on the “Enhancement Strategy” in order to transform properties and provide the best value-add proposals for GUF-I, including building and concept pre-approvals.

Damian White has been based in the GCC for the past 12 years and brings extensive leadership and experience in the fields of treasury and banking operations. As the Treasurer of Noor Bank, he was responsible for the bank’s trading activities, managing the investment portfolio and the sale of market-based consumer products. He executed numerous capital market transactions for Noor Bank and was Chairman of the Asset and Liability Committee. Prior to Noor Bank he spent five years as Group Treasurer of Al Rajhi Bank, based in Riyadh. Before moving to the Middle East, he was Head of Group Funding at National Australia Bank, Melbourne, and was responsible for raising in excess of US$20 billion in capital and term funding from global markets annually. Prior to this, Damian was Head of the Funding Desk at Lehman Brothers Treasury, based in London. Damian’s working career began with eight years’ service as an Infantry Officer in the Australian Army. He holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and a Queen’s Commission from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia.

Munther Hilal is an Investment Advisor for CES. He has over twenty-five years’ experience across corporate finance advisory, investment banking, turnaround advisory and private equity, primarily in the EMEA and SE Asian regions. Munther is known for his ability to source, structure and execute innovative and complex deals. He has spearheaded landmark deals across multiple sectors and has set-up numerous strategic ventures. He brings solid proven access to the investor community, including large family groups and global institutions. Munther is the Founder and Managing Partner at Gate Capital, a corporate finance advisory firm based in Dubai. Prior to this, he was the Chief Investments Officer at Unicorn Investment Bank and has served in leadership roles at regional corporate and family groups. Munther holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from McGill University in Canada and an MSc in Finance from Leicester University.