John Porter joins Dalma Capital to Lead its Investment Banking Practice from Dubai

08 September 2022

Dalma Capital announces today that John Porter has joined the firm to head its Investment Banking Advisory practice.

Porter spent his over 25-year career at Morgan Stanley and Renaissance Capital, where he held multiple leadership roles including acting as Morgan Stanley’s head of financing for the Middle East and Africa and establishing the Mumbai office for the Wall Street bank. He also acted as the Chief Business Officer of Renaissance Capital where he expanded the firms capabilities in Capital Raising, Capital Markets, Financial Advisory, IPO, and Emerging Markets.

At Dalma Capital, Porter will be leading an growing investment banking team as the firm continues to focus on large scale, international financing transactions across sectors. 

Mishal Kanoo, Board Member and spokesperson for Dalma Capital, said: “Our investment banking practice is a strategic pillar for Dalma Capital and the group. This appointment will help Dalma leverage its global capabilities as Dubai increasingly becomes an investment banking hub.”

About Dalma Capital:

Dalma Capital Management Limited is a global alternative investment management platform and advisor with strong capabilities in investment banking and asset management. Established in 2011 and headquartered in the Dubai International Finance Centre, Dalma Capital’s has been one of the fastest growing independent financial services businesses in the DIFC. Dalma Capital is authorized and supervised by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the “DFSA”) under a prudential category 3c license. 

About John Porter

John Porter worked at Morgan Stanley in London, New York and Asia between 1991 and 2008, holding various positions including Managing Director, Head of Financing for Middle East and Africa, Head of UK Capital Markets, Deputy Head of UK Investment Banking, Head of Africa. He set up Morgan Stanley’s office in Mumbai under the supervision of Vikram Pundit, later CEO of Morgan Stanley and then Citigroup.

John joined Renaissance Capital in 2008, subsequently moving to Moscow between 2008 and 2017. He ran the Financing Group leading over 100 closed transactions for the Firm over the period. Most recently held the title of Chief Business Officer. He also worked in multiple IPOs and secondary offerings such as Depa (DIFX) and Tabreed mandatory convertible, lasminute.com the first $1Bn of a pre revenue business on the LSE, Burbery and Carphone Warehouse on LSE, and Safaricom which remains the largest locally listed IPO out of Africa and the first “Fintech” capital markets story on the back of a nascent mPesa.

John is also a Board Member and treasurer of Harm Reduction International since 2021, a leading UK public health and healthcare policy NGO.