The Carlyle Group recently added Firas Nasir to its Middle East and North Africa team as a managing director. Nasir will advise on Carlyle's investment activities in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. He will be based in Dubai. Carlyle's MENA team will invest primarily in healthy, growing companies.

Nasir spent 10 years as an investment banker advising companies throughout North America and Europe on M&A transactions and in raising equity, high yield and investment-grade debt.  He joins Carlyle from UBS Investment Bank where he was an executive director. Prior to that, Nasir worked at Credit Suisse, most recently as vice president of M&A.

Walid Musallam, managing director and head of the MENA team, said, "Nasir brings world-class transactional knowledge and a global perspective to this new position. He has a track record of success, a keen understanding of deal sourcing and financing and a breadth of sector expertise. With his joining, our senior management team is now in place."