DUBAI: Dubai Islamic Bank and state holding company Dubai World said they plan to launch private-equity funds worth $5 billion in sectors ranging from energy to media and telecoms, and real estate.
The seven funds - which will also invest globally in infrastructure, financial institutions and industrials as well as health and education - will be launched over the next 18 months, according to a bank statement.
"This project provides a unique investment opportunity to investors from the (Gulf) and beyond to participate in highly profitable and visible transactions that are expected to generate returns in excess of 20 to 25 per cent," said Saad Abdul Razak, the bank's CEO.
"The industry sectors of these funds should also attract Islamic investors who seek to diversify their investment portfolio away from more traditional products," he said.
The funds' advisers will include Norton Rose and Baker McKenzie as legal advisers, Ernst & Young as auditors and the Bank of New York as escrow agent.
Governments in the world's biggest energy-exporting region have been ploughing their record oil and gas revenues into vast infrastructure projects, from highways to ports.
In February, Bahrain-based Gulf One Investment Bank said it would launch an infrastructure fund worth up to $10 billion, in what could be one of the world's largest private-equity funds, to finance projects, mainly in the Gulf Arab region. Qatar said last year it was seeking $130bn in project finance to meet its development goals. |
