Team

DECADES OF SUCCESS

Led by Founder & Managing Partner Gabriel de Alba, the GDA Luma investment team is equipped with a deep bench of cross-sector expertise and decades of experience in distressed-for-control investing, leveraging extensive relationship networks for first-look access to potential opportunities.

GABRIEL DE ALBA

Founder & Managing Partner

Mr. de Alba is an international investor who has recapitalized, restructured, and built businesses in the US, Europe, Canada, and international markets.

Prior to founding GDA Luma, Mr. de Alba spent 19 years as Managing Director & Partner of The Catalyst Capital Group. Roles include Chairman, Board Member, and CEO of multiple Catalyst portfolio companies.

Mr. de Alba also has led stakeholder groups in distressed and special situations in both debt and equity refinancings and recapitalizations. His experience includes investing through seven economic and credit crises dating back to the 1994 Tequila Crisis, with experience in investment and advisory in technology, hospitality, pharma and healthcare, media, telecom, and consumer discretionary sectors. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum Regional Action Group, which seeks to advance stakeholder capitalism and ESG.

Mr. de Alba holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern School of Business, an MBA from Columbia University, and has substantially completed a graduate degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at Harvard University.

Mr. de Alba is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French.

BIO

LOUISE VERRILL

Managing Director

Louise Verrill is a Managing Director and is responsible for Legal and Deal Architecture as well as Head of Compliance at GDA Luma.

Until recently, Ms. Verrill served as the Global Head of Corporate Restructuring at Brown Rudnick LLC. She was formerly President of the Insolvency Practitioners Association (first female President of this regulator) and President of the UK Insolvency Lawyers Association.

Through her 30-year legal career, Ms. Verrill has led numerous high-profile international and cross border restructuring and capital market assignments for creditor groups, including many of the European banking collapses as well as other numerous complex cases including TXU, MG Rover, Northern Rock, Lehman Brothers, Icelandic banks, Pescanova, Phones 4U, Co-op Bank, Eurofinance, and Homburg Invest/Geneba.

She currently serves as Chair of the Governors of Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Board Member of Studio Wayne McGregor, and Founder of the Grange Festival. She is also a member of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law observer group focused on Insolvency Law, as well as Chapter Zero, a climate forum established for non-executive directors.

Ms. Verrill is a Solicitor of the Higher Courts of England and Wales, an Insolvency Practitioner and has a Post Graduate Diploma-Legal from the University of the West of England (best in class).

BIO

MAITE STEBELSKI

Managing Director

Maite Stebelski is a Managing Director and is responsible for Deal Origination and Turnaround Strategies at GDA Luma.

Prior to joining GDA Luma, Ms. Stebelski served as Financial Services and Fintech Head for NTT Data Services.

Ms. Stebelski has held a comprehensive range of regional and international leadership positions, with managerial experience across investment funds and multinationals including IBM, Microsoft, and Dell Technologies. Her expertise includes restructuring of distressed accounts, troubled projects and special situations transforming them into profitable and compliance committed business and operational structures. Ms. Stebelski is highly experienced at working with C-suite management, Fortune 100 customers, Global Top 10 Financial Institutions, Emerging and Developing Markets and Governments, and satisfactorily partnering with investors, lobbyists, final users, and consumers.

Ms. Stebelski is also an active member of Pro-Bono organizations and mentor for NGOs and emerging markets entrepreneurs.

Ms. Stebelski is a graduate from INSEAD, Columbia University, and ITAM and has successfully completed graduate degrees in Fintech, Technology, and Cloud Computing. Additionally, she is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

BIO