GAA Living has appointed Romain Achi as Senior Director and Head of Middle East, where he will lead the expansion of the growing firm’s footprint across the region.
Returning to Dubai, his childhood home, Romain heads up GAA Living’s Middle East division, drawing upon his extensive experience in investment and asset management across multiple sectors and geographies to advise owners, developers and investors in the region on rental living best practices, portfolio strategy, and value creation.
“I’m delighted to join GAA Living at this exciting time of geographical and operational expansion. The rental living sector in the Middle East presents much potential and with this new division, GAA Living is now perfectly positioned to provide best in class support and insight, from buy side advisory to operating company reviews, bank lending review reports, market research and development design reviews, to institutional investors, fund managers, developers, operators and local authorities in the region.”
Romain Achi, Head of Middle East, GAA Living
Romain’s appointment follows GAA Living’s expanded activity in the Middle East and the recent delivery of won instructions in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The new division will also enable the company to further realise the considerable pipeline of interest that has been garnered by the consultancy in recent months.
With deep buyside expertise, Romain has worked across equity, debt (as both lender and borrower) and structured real estate transactions, spanning core through to opportunistic strategies – from cash-on-cash focused investments to IRR-driven, complex capital structures. His background includes real estate private debt, institutional real estate equity, and real estate special situations at a private equity firm.
“Romain’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for GAA Living. As we see institutional investment in rental housing develop in the Middle East, GAA Living is there, leveraging global best practices, from field to yield, to benefit our clients.”
David Woodward, CEO, GAA Living
Known for tackling complex challenges and improving how teams work, Romain brings strong valuation and underwriting expertise, commercial acumen and a collaborative leadership style. Fluent in French and Arabic and having worked across the USA, Europe and the GCC, he will bring a truly international perspective to the role.
