The financial advisory industry for the mid-market corporates in the Middle East has evolved in the past few years. Some of the significant factors driving this change, include, access to credit history and credit standing of companies through official channels such as credit bureaus and tax authorities, evolution of the fintech industry where, multiple players have mushroomed all across the Region who are offering direct access to working capital to the MSME segment, resulting in reduced need for financial advisors for plain vanilla working capital needs and evolution of the private credit / mezzanine debt industry with numerous players actively deploying capital in mid to large credit deals, which somehow did not fit well within the lending criteria of the conventional banks.
The above-mentioned changes are shaping the Region’s financial advisory industry and making it more competitive. The financial advisors are compelled to adapt to the changing market trends as well as changing client and investor needs. The clients expect their financial advisors to be more versatile in their service offerings by offering unique and off-market solutions for their financial needs.
Ritesh Bhartiya, the Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Provizia Capital has emerged as a leading player in the UAE’s mid-market financial advisory marketplace by demonstrating his versatility in offering a variety of creative credit solutions to meet his client’s diverse capital needs. He has successfully applied his extensive experience both in debt and equity gained from a career spanning over two decades.
He started his financial advisory career with Merrill Lynch India in 2002, working in their Capital Markets team, which set the foundation of his long-standing investment banking career. This was followed by a short stint at Ernst & Young India, where he worked on Mergers & Acquisitions, after which, he took a sabbatical to pursue his MBA (Finance) from the University of Western Australia in Perth.
After completing his MBA, Ritesh moved to Dubai and joined KPMG Corporate Finance, as his first job in the UAE. From here on, Ritesh kept advancing in his career working with a few firms and gained diverse experiences along the way. At Saudi Research and Media Group, he worked on private equity investments, at Alpen Capital, he worked on equity and debt advisory mandates and at Que Capital, he managed a DIFC-registered company at the COO and headed the corporate advisory business.
These diverse experiences enriched Ritesh and moulded him into becoming the business owner and seasoned financial services professional that he is today.
Business Model
The setting-up of Provizia Capital was a natural transition for Ritesh to achieve his long-term career objectives of becoming a well-recognized and reputable financial advisor offering tailor-made solutions for his client’s needs. The business was structured in a way that allowed each co-founder’s strengths and expertise to be used optimally. Based in the Middle East, Ritesh manages the firm’s financial advisory business, offering equity and debt advisory, alternative financing solutions, sellside M&A advisory, etc. His partner based in Singapore offers structured trade finance, real estate and other offmarket investment solutions.
Provizia’s business model ensures best-in-class service for clients regardless of their geographical location, industry, and size. Using his ability to dissect the client’s needs effectively, Ritesh has been successful in offering multiple solutions to each client, generating multiple revenue streams from his relationships. “Because of our extensive experience and deep connectivity with the financiers and market counterparties, bulk of our work comes from referrals, which is indicative of the strength of our network and quality of our service offering,” says Ritesh.
Structured Client Onboarding and Engagement Process
Ritesh follows a well-structured client onboarding/ engagement process, to ensure that all new clients get the appropriate attention. The process includes, scoping the requirements, preliminary due diligence, and market checks using his network of banks and other market intermediaries. Upon receiving positive feedback on the client’s reputation and overall business, Ritesh formally engages with the and works hand in hand with the client’s team to prepare the relevant documentation and business plan to approach the market with the financing sought.
Because of our longstanding reputation in the field of financial services, bulk of our leads comes through referrals, which is indicative of the strength of our network & the quality of our service offerings
Ensuring Tailored Solutions
Ritesh’s problem-solving methodology is systematic and customer-oriented. He divides his client’s needs into immediate/short-term, medium-term, and longterm categories to provide specific solutions for each of them. His logical approach includes listing down possible solutions, sharing them with the client, and preparing a comprehensive plan of action which includes services and corresponding costs. Ritesh’s global delivery management skills demonstrated through the projects executed from the offices based in Dubai and Singapore, exhibit this versatility and focus on providing quality solutions irrespective of location.
Ritesh has become a specialist in offering alternative financing solutions, which can be in the form of structured trade finance, mezzanine debt, bridging loans, etc. Depending on the client’s specific needs, he arranges different types of financing solutions and sometimes multiple solutions for different needs.
Mid-Market Financial Advisory Services
Ritesh gained his experience in midmarket financial advisory while working with Alpen Capital, where he worked both in equity and debt advisory teams. During this time, he realized that there was a dearth of good quality boutique advisory firms offering best in class advisory services to the mid-market corporates. After leaving this role, Ritesh decided to start his own advisory practice. Provizia goes beyond the conventional advisory engagements and help their clients with multiple solutions, resulting in low client turnover and repeat customers. Provizia’s systematic approach in each engagement is to ensure that the clients get bestin- class advice by using the firm’s network and presence across major international financial centres.
Global Presence with Local Expertise
Ritesh is in a unique position as his firm has a presence across three major financial centres such as Dubai, Singapore, and London, which enables him to provide his clients with a superior and more comprehensive service offering. He has deep connectivity across global and regional banks, sovereign wealth funds, private equity and mezzanine debt funds, and family offices, which makes him very effective in his execution and closure. Ritesh’s origination and execution capabilities transcend countries as he has been able to successfully execute and close deals seamlessly regardless of the location.
Resilience and Adaptability
Ritesh’s strength and resilience is evident from the fact that he has been able to stay the course in the midmarket financial advisory services for over eight years and the business is growing year after year. During the past eight years, he has successfully closed several transactions, many of which were highly complex deals that took anywhere from 9 to 15 months to close. The reasons for his success are his resilience and relentless attitude to never give up and always coming up with innovative ways of tackling the most complex problems. His journey depicts a man of strength, adaptability, and determination to face any challenge that comes his way.
What’s Next?
Ritesh has built a robust advisory business with a strong foundation, on the back of his relationship with clients and financiers alike. Continuing the momentum of offering innovative solutions on an ongoing basis, Provizia has set up two funds, one registered in Mauritius and focusing on investments in India and the second registered in the UK and focusing on offering our clients access to the UK real estate investment opportunities. In addition, Ritesh is exploring the possibility of setting up a credit fund for offering bridging solutions.
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