Dubai wealth fund buy-out head switches to Carlyle

* username: rupertbu

Carlyle, the US-based private equity group, has poached Eric Kump, head of Dubai International Capital’s European private equity team, leaving the sovereign wealth fund with a troubled portfolio and lacking funds for new deals.

Mr Kump will on Tuesday be unveiled by Carlyle as a new managing director in its European buy-out team, only two years after the 39-year-old was hired by DIC from Merrill Lynch to bolster its London office.

The move is a blow for DIC, which has not completed a new European buy-out for more than two years, focusing instead on defending the €1.8bn ($2.4bn) it has invested in six deals since it was founded in late 2004, many of which are struggling.