Partner Article

DVK Group Launches in Saudi Arabia with Member

Mr. Deepak Kuntawala, the visionary Founder and Chairman of DVK Group, a global commodity trading and finance boutique company, has driven his entrepreneurial vision to even greater heights by expanding the international operations of his company to include the key emerging markets of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Gulf Region and North Africa. Operations for the KSA region are overseen by the Non-Executive Chairman of DVK Saudi, who is a member of the Saudi Arabia Royal family.

DVK Group’s exciting expansion plans for the KSA and Gulf region are due to begin in Mid-2013, and are scheduled to include the launch of a Shari’ah investment fund, as well as key infrastructure projects spearheaded exclusively by DVK Saudi in the Gulf Region, China, private equity transactions in Russia and various parts of Africa.

The group’s successful performance in the last quarter has led to the establishment of a DVK office in Bahrain. With DVK Group’s successful aviation wing, the organization also has an exclusive mandate to expand its aviation cargo business in the Middle East, especially within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States. The group will also increase its acquisition of private jet businesses, aircraft, and develop new markets in the Gulf region.

In addition, Deepak personally is in discussions with heads of Qatar to launch a Shari’ah Investment Fund which will be aimed solely at ladies in the Middle East.

Speaking about DVK Group’s expansion into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Deepak Kuntawala says: “I think the Middle East has fantastic bankable opportunities and the GCC region is the hub of trading opportunities for the Middle East.”

He adds: “It is [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] the fifth overseas operation to be launched in one year. In 2012 we launched in Moscow, Kenya, Madrid, Malawi and Saudi, which is a new operation. The reason for launching in Saudi Arabia is driven by the amount of bankable projects in the area and the relationships, which DVK has managed to harness. Both of these factors will assist in our future growth and increase our global foot print in other strategic locations around the world.”

DVK Group, which has developed a strong and stable footprint in strategic geographic and international regions and within key emerging markets, is set to cement its global expansion plans further by opening its new headquarter office in the iconic landmark of The Gherkin in London.

Since 2001, Deepak has overseen substantial increases across private equity, wealth management, structured trade and commodity finance, trading, capital markets, infrastructure, real estate, mining, aviation investment and fund management sectors. He comes from a strong entrepreneurial background with business skills inherited from his family, including his grandfather, father and uncles. His family has international trading and real estate business interests going back more than 110 years. Deepak has been recognised for his gifted sense of entrepreneurship and dynamic vision.

Deepak was born in Zambia in Africa and spent time in South Africa, Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. After immigrating to the UK with his family in the 1970s from Zambia, he studied Business at world-renowned institutions London Business School, the Said Business School in Oxford studying Private Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions, and has attended the Growth Programme at Cranfield, where such business stalwarts as Lord Karan Bilimoria (Cobra Beer) and Angus Thirlwell, the Founder of leading brand Hotel Chocolat, studied.

Deepak’s successful financial career includes working at organisations such as Legal and General, Lombard Business Finance, Credit Suisse, First Boston and UBS. Wanting to develop his entrepreneurial flair further, he then joined the family giftware trading business - Kaysons Trading Company. Kaysons Trading was a wholesale and distribution organisation dealing in gift/artifact related products originating and manufactured in China, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Kaysons’ clients were UK based companies including chemists, card/photographic stores and garden centres/giftware retails. It is through this enterprise that Deepak got his first taste of international trading, working during school holidays and accompanying on buying trips to negotiate with importers.

He felt that in order to materialise his vision, it was essential to establish his own business. He daringly set-up a small office within a store room of a warehouse - within weeks of establishing the office, Deepak launched DVK International.

Under his able leadership, he has taken the DVK Group to new heights by enhancing its portfolio of business interests. The Group now has a presence in the following countries and cities, Johannesburg, China, Hong Kong, UAE, Switzerland, Moscow, Nairobi, Ghana, Malawi, Madrid, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. DVK plans to expand and adopt a global thinking ethos, lead by innovation and to provide creative finance solutions to corporate clients.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Deepak Kuntawala, DVK Group .

Explore these topics

Our Partners