Palestine-based online travel site Batuta has raised a US$2.5 million Series A round of funding from Palestine-focused private equity fund manager Siraj Fund Management Company. The transaction was structured through Siraj Palestine Fund I. The company will use the new funds to grow its core business and develop a new… Read More
Development finance institution International Finance Corporation (IFC) and MENA-focused investment banking and asset management firm Swicorp have invested US$18 million in Jordan-based vocational and technical education provider Luminus Education. Luminus will use the new funds to diversify its offerings and expand locally and regionally. Swicorp first invested in Luminus in… Read More
Middle East-focused alternative asset manager Gulf Capital has signed a debt financing agreement to support Egypt-based petrochemicals holding company Carbon Holdings. Gulf Capital will provide an AED92 million (approximately US$25 million) convertible, five-year loan facility to finance the development and expansion of three of Carbon Holdings’ petrochemical projects: a mining… Read More
Andrew Brown is the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), an Africa-focused growth capital investor. In this interview, Andrew compares and contrasts the private equity opportunity in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, highlights exit routes and strategies to mitigate risk,… Read More
International investment companies Piton Capital and Vostok Nafta Investment have led a US$6.5 million Series C round for Naseeb Networks, a Pakistan-based operator of online employment marketplaces with a focus on emerging markets. The company will use the new funding to accelerate its growth in target markets. Read More
Egypt-based laboratory diagnostics company Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH) has completed an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange, facilitating a partial exit for global growth markets investor The Abraaj Group. IDH sold 65 million shares priced at US$4.45 per share, raising around US$290 million. The issue returned around… Read More
Key findings from the 2015 LP Survey: Over the next two years, 33% of LPs* plan to increase the percentage of their total PE allocation targeted at emerging markets (versus 41% in the 2014 survey), and 47% of LPs* anticipate increasing the dollar value of new commitments to EM… Read More
EMPEA today announces the release of a new Special Report: Private Equity in the Middle East and North Africa, EMPEA’s first in-depth, comprehensive look at the asset class in a richly diverse region that has historically been viewed more as a source of capital than as a destination for funds. Read More
Geographically situated at the heart of some of the world’s most important trade routes, the countries comprising the MENA region are richly diverse culturally, politically and economically. Stretching from the Maghreb in the west, and moving east through Egypt and the Levant to the Gulf, each of these markets… Read More
Middle East-focused venture capital firm Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) has held a first close for Middle East Venture Fund II (MEVF II) with US$15 million in capital commitments. MEVF II, which has a target of US$30 million and aims to close in the second quarter of 2015, will make… Read More
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