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KKR hires former US-Saudi ambassador(3)

Ford Fraker will augment the firm’s network and relationships in the Middle East, where KKR began operations last year.

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Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has appointed Ford Fraker, the former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, as a senior adviser to the firm in the Middle East.

KKR, which is currently marketing an infrastructure fund, established a presence in the region only last year and this year expanded by opening an office in Dubai. KKR’s Makram Azar is head of the Middle East and North Africa territory.

Aside from time spent as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Fraker has spent the majority of his working life in financial services. He co-founded London-based investment bank and placement agent Trinity Group in 1996, but is no longer its chairman, according to KKR.

The latest appointment by the New York firm further swells the ranks of special advisors KKR already has on its payroll.

Among the seasoned big-hitters KKR’s employs are Sanjiv Ahuja, former chief executive of mobile phone company Orange; Joe Forehand, former chairman and chief executive of Accenture; Paul Hazen, former chairman and chief executive of US bank Wells Fargo; and former ExxonMobil chairman and chief executive, Lee Raymond.

Fraker began his career with Chemical Bank where he worked from 1972 to 1979 in Lebanon, the UAE, and Bahrain, ending as a vice president and regional manager for the bank’s Bahrain office. In 1979, he joined Saudi International Bank where he spent 12 before setting up his own consulting firm specialising in the Middle East.