Carlyle takes on DIC's Kump

Dubai International Capital (DIC) has lost Eric Kump, head of its European private equity team, to The Carlyle Group.

Kump will assume his role as managing director for the firm’s European buyout team today, a Carlyle spokeswoman told PEO. In his new role, he will continue to be based in London.

Kump’s addition to the 40-strong European roster comes at a time when “investment pace is picking up across the region”, William E. Conway, co-founder and managing director of Carlyle, said in a statement.

Prior to joining DIC in October 2008, the 39-year-old Kump was a managing director with Merill Lynch Global Private Equity (MLGPE), where he was a member of the investment committee and a non-executive board member of various portfolio companies. At MLGPE, Kump was focused on European leveraged buyouts in the financial services, leisure, retail, distribution, industrial and healthcare sectors.

His departure from DIC comes at a difficult time for the firm. Last month, DIC filed a court appeal to block Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management from seizing Almatis, DIC’s German aluminium-products maker, in a debt restructuring exercise.

A week later, the private equity firm announced it had plans to sell bonds to raise funds to pay the Oaktree debt. DIC has a $1.25 billion loan maturing in June, according to Bloomberg.

Carlyle Europe Partners has offices in Barcelona, London, Luxembourg, Milan, Munich and Paris.