Investcorp plans $1b spend on Gulf realty
Bahrain company places its first GCC real estate funds in a Dammam warehouse
The Bahrain investment firm Investcorp is bringing its real estate sector funding closer to the Gulf, to the tune of up to $1 billion over the next five years. Invetcorp, which has substantial real estate holdings in the US, has already made a buy, in Saudi Arabia on a new 215,000 square feet temperature-controlled warehouse in Dammam.
This is the first of $100 million-worth of real estate investments it is assessing in the Kingdom. The Dammam property is fully leased to Racking Systems Logistics Services Company, a third-party logistics firm. The investment in the warehouse — which can store up to 32,000 pallets of goods — will bring the value of Investcorp’s warehousing logistics investments to over $4 billion, representing approximately 42 million square feet of industrial space.
‘Enormous potential’
“The logistics and industrial sectors have enormous potential as key pillars of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 agenda to transform the Kingdom into a leading industrial powerhouse and a global logistics hub,” said Hazem Ben-Gacem, Co-CEO at the Bahrain firm. “Investcorp is a natural partner in this growth journey, and this acquisition leverages our global experience investing in the logistics sector — particularly in the US, Europe and India.
“This is the first in a series of investments that we are planning to make in the near future – with a view to investing $1 billion over the next five years.”
In September last, Investcorp’s Gulf Pre-IPO Growth Fund led a $100 million financing round in TruKKer Holding Limited, Mena’s largest digital freight network. It also acquired a majority stake in NourNet, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading connectivity and ICT services providers.
‘Ambitious plans’
“We have ambitious plans across diversified real estate sectors that support healthcare, education, entertainment, consumer goods, tech-enabled services, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and industrial services” - Babak Sultani, Head of GCC Real Estate at Investcorp.