Instinctif Partners further strengthens the MENA team by relocating Matthew Smallwood to enhance its offer

Smallwood brings to the position over 30 years of international experience in investor relations and financial communications, to support the local IPOs and transaction communications in both the United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

DUBAI, UAE, May 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Instinctif Partners, one of the leading and fastest growing business communications and reputation management consultancies in MENA has further strengthened its team as it continues to build and grow its leading franchise in both Riyadh and Dubai.

Matthew Smallwood, a founder and Managing Partner within Instinctif Partners, has relocated to the region from London to build and extend the investor relations (IR) and Financial Communications team, alongside Frederic Cornet, Head of MEA Capital Markets & Investor Relations.

Matthew joined Instinctif's predecessor company, College Hill in 1989 and has been a mainstay in its Capital Markets business for over 30 years. He has a wealth of experience advising and promoting companies to investors, analysts and marketing companies through the media. During his time he has been involved in almost every type of corporate situation: IPO, Mergers and Acquisitions, fundraising, crisis management and more generally bespoke day to day communication programmes.

He has a particular specialism in hospitality, hotels, construction and retail (especially online). He has advised on approaching 100 IPOs and helped companies with over 2000 earnings statements as well as a plethora of M & A transactions of all kinds.

Notable transactions he has been involved with include Froneri's £3bn acquisition of Nestle's Ice Cream business to create the largest ice cream business in the world, The $3bn sale of Millennium Hotels to CDL and a Stars Group acquisition, for $4.3 bn. He has also been instrumental in assisting companies in crisis notably Findus in the global horsemeat scandal and ASOS's distribution warehouse fire.

Other high profile clients over time have included ASOS, Caffe Nero, David Lloyd Leisure, Farfetch, Global Blue, Guoco Hotels, Morgan Sindall, Superdry, SAB, Saatchi and Saatchi, ASDA, Wagamama and eDreams, to name a few

Samantha Bartel, CEO, Instinctif MENA said:

"We are delighted to have Matthew join our successful and growing MENA team. There are few people with his experience and knowledge of capital markets. Not only will he help us grow our business, but also our people will benefit from his extensive experience."

Instinctif Partners have also grown their Riyadh and Dubai based Capital Markets and Investor Relations teams, by adding 11% since last year, to better serve local client demand.

Matthew Smallwood, Managing Partner, Instinctif said:

"I am really thrilled to have relocated to the Middle East. Both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the most active and exciting markets in the world today and Instinctif's MENA practice one of the fastest growing across our group. I am eager to assist in growing the practice further and sharing my experience for the benefit of existing clients, new companies and the team."

Instinctif MENA boasts a growing blue chip client list across the region and scooped 13 out of 18 awards at the 2022 MEIRA awards in October last year.

About Instinctif Partners:

Instinctif Partners is an EMEA business communications consultancy. As partners in change, we help navigate societies' constantly changing rules. We provide an integrated service drawing on expertise in communications, capital markets, content & design, digital, insight, public affairs and sustainability. Our aim is to build trust through transparency and honesty, so that together with our clients, we can be a force for good.