Abraaj
Capital said on Monday it will acquire specialist fund Aureos Capital, in the
latest bid by the Middle East’s largest private equity firm to expand its
geographical footprint.
Abraaj declined to give financial details for
the acquisition but said the combined company will manage $7.5 billion in
assets across 30 emerging countries.
Aureos Capital Limited, based in the United
Kingdom and with about $1.3 billion assets under management, provides expansion
and buy-out capital to small and medium-sized businesses across Asia, Africa
and Latin America.
“We are putting together two complementary
platforms. Both firms are on the ground. In the case of Aureos, they have been
investing in (small and medium enterprises) for over 10 years,” Mustafa
Abdel-Wadood, Abraaj’s chief executive officer, said at a news conference.
“The deal is expected to close this quarter.”
Aureos is active in more than 50 emerging
markets and manages 17 regional private equity funds, including its South Asia
Fund.
Abraaj has recently been keen to beef up its
emerging market presence. Last August, it bought the North African private
equity operations of French asset manager Amundi.
The Dubai-based firm also looked at a
potential acquisition of its Egyptian rival Citadel Capital but the talks ended
without a deal.
“This (Aureous deal) is a very deliberate path
of going for emerging markets exposure. Part of that path is building the expertise
and the infrastructure to gain exposure to these markets,” Abdel-Wadood added.
In December, Abraaj exited its stake in
Turkish hospital group Acibadem in a deal which group Chief Executive Arif
Naqvi said resulted in a “significant profit” for the company.
The PE firm, which said it plans to sell up to
four of its investments in the next 18 months, sold its stake in the Turkish
firm to Integrated Healthcare Holdings (IHH), a healthcare unit of Malaysia’s
Khazanah Nasional. The deal valued Acibadem at around $1.68 billion.
The Middle East and North Africa regions are
important investment areas for private equity firms, which have raised $22.7
billion to invest into the area in the past five years, according to figures
from London-based research firm Preqin.
Deal activity in the region is showing signs
of rebound after a period of slowdown following the global financial crisis.
Reuters
Business & Investment Opportunities
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