Mid-East Firm SHUAA Closes Debut Fund With $200M
By Marine Cole (Reporter/The Private Equity Analyst/Dow Jones)
9/8/2005 – SHUAA Partners, the private equity arm of investment banking institution SHUAA Capital PSC, held the final closing of its first private equity fund at the end of August, reaching its hard cap of $200 million as expected.
The firm held a first closing on SHUAA Partners Fund I LP in June with $160 million, ahead of the $150 million target it set when it started marketing the fund in April. All investors are from the Middle East and include high-net worth individuals and institutions.
The fund did its first investment in June, buying Damas, a UAE-based jewelry firm. Abe Saad, managing partner at SHUAA Partners, said the firm has "many transactions in the pipeline," and anticipates making its next investment toward the end of the month or the beginning of October.
Saad anticipates SHUAA Partners will typically invest between $5 million and $50 million in buyouts, recapitalizations, private investments in public equity, spin-offs from business restructurings and privatizations, public to private transactions, acquisitions and pre-initial public offering investments.
The firm will focus on the countries of the Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The fund will also invest in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon on an opportunistic basis.
The fund has an investment period of about four years during which it will make six to eight investments, but Saad said the firm could start "soft marketing" its second fund in mid-2007, and that the next fund will be bigger, "at least double," he said.
Dubai-based SHUAA Partners has about four investment professionals and also receives support from SHUAA Capital, which offers investment banking, portfolio advisory services and asset management. It plans to hire two to four additional people with private equity experience in the U.S. or the EU and Arabic language skills.
Reach SHUAA Partners at 971-4-330-3600.
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