Investcorp to launch $100m fund for Omani pensions

Investcorp, the Bahraini alternative investment company with $21.3 billion in assets under management, will launch a $100 million fund for Omani pension funds, it said yesterday.

“The fund will enable Omani pension funds to tap into investment opportunities in growth companies, sectors and markets,” said Investcorp executive chairman Mohammed Alardhi.

The Opportunities Fund will aim to make private equity investments in the US and Europe in mid-sized companies across several sectors, although Investcorp declined to name them.

“Oman is an important market for Investcorp and we are committed to playing an active role in supporting the development of its economy,” Mr Alardhi said.

Each of the deals would be within a targeted range of $200m to $500m, he told Reuters, and include a mixture of equity plus debt. Since its inception in 1982, the Bahrain-listed company has made over 170 corporate investments in the US, Europe and the broader Middle East and North Africa region, including Turkey, across a range of sectors and more than 450 commercial and residential real estate investments in the US, exceeding a total investment value of $55bn.

Investcorp is in the process of expanding its client coverage and product lines as part of a strategy to boost assets under management in the coming years through acquisitions and organic growth.

The firm plans to exit at least three companies over the next 12 months and is eyeing $5bn investments each year, its co-chief executive Rishi Kapoor told The National in December.

The company, which counts Abu Dhabi strategic firm Mubadala Investment Company as its largest shareholder with a 20 per cent stake, is focusing on exits in the Arabian Gulf, the US and Europe, Mr Kapoor said at the time.