Who We Are
Our Name, Our Values
Saudi business was built by its merchants — the family houses whose judgment, diligence, and commitment to success earned reputations measured in generations. Our name and identity are rooted in that heritage, carrying forward its principles to build an enduring reputation and lasting impact in modern capital markets.
How We Do It
Strategic
We approach every relationship with a long-term perspective. We advise with responsibility and act with conviction, looking beyond immediate outcomes to help our partners build stronger businesses, strengthen their market position, and create enduring impact.
Institutional
Institutional standards define how we work and earn trust. We apply disciplined execution, strong governance, and clear accountability to every engagement — delivering the consistency, transparency, and confidence our clients and investors expect.
Creative
Complex challenges require a creative mindset. Our integrated strength across debt and equity financing, project finance, and corporate advisory enables us to look beyond conventional approaches, developing solutions that are commercially sound, strategically aligned, and built for long-term value.
Connected
Our relationships extend across Saudi Arabia, the GCC, and international markets — spanning sovereign funds, financial institutions, family offices, private wealth, and strategic investors. This continuous engagement gives us deep insight into investor appetite, capital flows, and market conditions, enabling us to position transactions through to successful closing.
Our Firm
Founded in Riyadh, Merchants Capital is a Saudi capital market institution licensed by the Capital Market Authority (CMA). We provide strategic investment banking services across our four practices — debt and equity capital markets, project finance, mergers & acquisitions.
Leadership
Tarek Tawfik — Chairman & CEO
Tarek Tawfik is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merchants Capital, leading the firm's long-term strategy, institutional development, and capital formation activities. With more than three decades of experience in private wealth and capital markets, he has advised clients and managed investment portfolios exceeding USD 2 billion across global markets and asset classes.
Throughout his career, Tarek has held senior leadership positions at leading local and international institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), and Abdulrahman Saad Al-Rashid & Sons Company (ARTAR). As an entrepreneur, he co-founded successful businesses in the United Kingdom, India, and Singapore.
Tarek holds a Bachelor's degree in Financial Management from King Saud University and has completed executive and professional programs with the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and Banque Saudi Fransi in Islamic finance and capital markets.
Osama Abbass — Managing Partner
Osama Abbass is the Managing Partner and Head of Investment Banking at Merchants Capital, leading the firm's transactions across debt and equity capital markets, project finance, and mergers & acquisitions. His experience uniquely combines fund management with investment banking, enabling him to structure transactions through the lens of institutional investors while delivering commercially sound, practical solutions for clients.
With more than two decades of experience across Saudi and regional capital markets, Osama has advised on strategic transactions while managing investment portfolios exceeding USD 3 billion across equities, sukuk, money markets, real estate, and alternative investments.
Prior to joining Merchants Capital, Osama held senior positions at Jadwa Investment and Abdulrahman Saad Al-Rashid & Sons Company (ARTAR). He is a CFA Charterholder, CAIA Charterholder, and Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and has completed executive education at London Business School in Leadership and in Project & Infrastructure Finance.
Advisory Board
Saud Alquaifil — Advisor & Board Member
Saud Alquaifil is a prominent Saudi real estate leader with more than two decades of experience across the Kingdom's real estate industry. He is recognized for advising government entities, developers, and institutional investors on large-scale development strategies, transformational programs, and complex mandates delivered in line with international best practice.
Saud currently serves as Partner, Real Estate Advisory at Deloitte Saudi Arabia. He previously held several leadership positions, including CEO of INMAR Real Estate Company and CEO of Tunuf Real Estate Advisory, as well as senior advisory roles at Ernst & Young, ValuStrat, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), and TAQEEM.
Saud is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), a TAQEEM-accredited valuer, and holds a Master of Science in Real Estate and Construction Management from the University of Denver.