CONSULTANTS
MANAGEMENT
THE TEAM
The Malchas team has a rich experience in various projects with a focus on retail, hospitality and mixed-use developments. The team has covered all aspects of the real estate cycle from conception, development, financing, commercialization and operation.
In the last economic cycle, our team has successfully assisted in developing new mixed-use properties in several countries, and implemented turnaround strategies for existing hotels, including their rebranding, repurposing of properties, as well as their refinancing.
In addition to our internal team, we also work with a number of third-party consultants on an ad-hoc basis for specific assignments. Their expertise range from architecture and design, engineering, F&B innovation, sales and marketing, and project management. Most of our external consultants have been based in our region for many years, or have extensive experience in this region, with excellent knowledge of the local and regional markets, their cultural diversity and the opportunities available.
Goulam Amarsy
Partner
Goulam Amarsy, Partner, has a total of 35 years of experience developing traditional shopping centres, entertainment centres and resorts in North America and the Middle East.
He has led several projects, including Eaton Centre, a complex urban mixed-use project in downtown Montreal, Canada which includes a very successful shopping mall of over 270 stores, a 30-storey office tower and several accesses to the underground city and metro system. Goulam has worked on dozens of retail and hospitality projects in the UAE and surrounding countries. In his latest assignment, Goulam successfully led the growth of the Barcelo hotel brand by signing seven management contracts totalling over 2,000 rooms.
Goulam is the president of the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of GCC, which includes over 1,000 top executives of the region.
Afsana Amarsy
Partner
Afsana Amarsy, Partner, has an excellent knowledge of operations of mixed-use projects, especially those anchored by hotels, F&B complexes and retail.
Her ability to bridge language gaps between people, cultures and even industries is a direct result of her own varied background as an entrepreneur in the ice cream business for 15 years in Montreal, Canada, as well as having opened up the premium homecare category in Quebec in the early 90’s with her introduction of the French ‘Herbier de Provence’ brand. She has worked with several F&B brands such as Swensen’s and Segafredo.
Afsana is also the Chair of the Harvard Crossroads Emerging Leaders Program, an initiative which offers curated HarvardX Online courses to thousands of students every year and brings 100 students to the one-week Harvard Program conducted in Dubai by Harvard Business School professors.
Adrian Sender
Adrian Sender, has over 19 years of experience in corporate and structured finance, including debt arrangement/syndication, capital markets and M&A.
He is a recognized and respected commercial business contributor throughout the MENA region. He has structured, arranged, and lent over USD 10bn in the GCC and raised significant capital both in the form of private and public placements. Adrian has held senior executive roles in banking, including at Lehman Brothers in the Middle East, Credit Suisse First Boston, Doha Bank, Samba Capital, RJ Fleming & Co and Shard Capital, an FCA-regulated asset management company.
Adrian has a BSc in Economics & Accounting from the University of Bristol.
Dermot Birchall
Consultant
Dermot Birchall is an experienced and passionate General Manager and Asset Manager with a demonstrated history of successful assignments in the hospitality industry with international hotel operators and owners in Middle East and Asia. Dermot’s entrepreneurial, reliable, stable, committed, and structured approach has allowed him to deliver concrete results to multiple owners and hotel properties over his long and successful career.
Vinay Bhatia
Consultant
Vinay Bhatia is a highly-energized, experienced professional armored with an infectious appetite for hospitality, fine cuisine, bespoke service and modern design. Well regarded by industry peers, Vinay has established credibility as an award‐winning Food and Beverage Manager in UAE and a strong operator of mid-scale hotels with a “personality”, achieving higher occupancy and average rates than his competitive sets. Vinay was trained at the Oberoi Academy in India and has over 15 years of experience in the field.
Ali Taheri
Consultant
Ali Taheri, has over 20 years of tourism and hospitality industry. Ali was the Director of Sourcing in the Middle East, Africa, and Indian Subcontinent at Hotelbeds, the world's leading Bedbank, redefining accommodation, transfers, activities, and car rental products with a global network of travel distributors.
Ed Glickman
Consultant
Edward Glickman serves as Executive Chairman of AIP Asset Management, New York. He provides insights on the U.S. market trends and advises on investment and asset management strategies. Prior to joining AIP Asset Management, he held various positions at PREIT and served as CFO of The Rubin Organization and of Presidential Realty Corporation. He began his finance career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers and Smith Barney.
Ed has over 30 years of experience in the real estate finance industry. Previously, he was President, COO and Trustee of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (“PREIT”), one of the first equity REITs in the U.S. He holds Bachelor's degrees in Economics and Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and College of Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School.
Alma Santos
Research Associate
Alma Santos, has analyzed at least 100 hotel properties, including their current and past performance as well as those of their respective competitive sets.
Alma’s research work has enabled the team to formulate the right strategy for each of the assignments undertaken in the last five years.
Alma completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration major in Financial Management Accounting. With over 10 years in both public and private sectors, Alma has experience in management consultation, team building, professional development, strategic implementation and company collaboration. Alma has also acquired IT and design skills allowing her to create professional corporate presentations, webinars and collateral marketing materials.
