Business | Banking
BNP plans $300m Mideast equity fund
French bank BNP Paribas yesterday said it is launching a $300 million private equity fund targeting mid-cap companies in the Middle East to benefit from lower valuations due to the global crisis.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:41 December 11, 2008
Manama: French bank BNP Paribas yesterday said it is launching a $300 million private equity fund targeting mid-cap companies in the Middle East to benefit from lower valuations due to the global crisis.
"Things were expensive a year ago, (now) expectations are lowered, people are not as high as they were, they're more sober, more constrained," Tariq Al Samahiji, chief executive for the Middle East and North Africa at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, told Reuters.
He said the bank targets annual returns of 18-19 percent for the fund, some 70 percent of which will be invested in the Gulf Arab region, with the remainder in North Africa. The bank itself will invest $75 million in the fund, which it plans to fully invest over the next three to four years.
The Gulf has started to feel the global financial woes through tighter liquidity at banks, and its economies are expected to now grow at slower rates than during the past years' boom.
Health care and education, sectors which in the region have lacked private sector investments, are ranking high on the target list of the fund, Samahiji said.
Things were expensive a year ago, (now) expectations are lowered, people are ... more constrained."
Share this article
Popular in Business
-
XPRESS
Way to go this DSF
A fun-filled route to guide you to all the happening dos in town
Business Editor's choice
-
Tight security for air show
Police announce measures to keep people and property safe
-
Nokia aims for 300m customers by 2012
Core focus will be on messaging, maps and navigation, music and applications
-
Court orders freeze on all Saad assets
Many UAE banks exposed to troubled conglomerate
