Dubai: A Hong Kong-based investor has bought full ownership of Amman-based Jordan Dubai Capital for 92 million Jordanian dinar (Dh475.6 million) from Dubai International Capital and other shareholders, the company said in a statement on Sunday.
HPF Private Investment Fund Co, a firm established in January in Hong Kong to invest in the Middle East and North Africa, plans to use the purchase to help launch a regional fund, according to the statement.
Dubai International Capital (DIC) the private equity arm of Dubai Holding, founded Jordan Dubai Capital in 2005.
JD Capital has since made investments in energy, financial services and real estate, the statement said. It has made investments solely in Jordan; its assets include Jordan Dubai Properties, Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank and First Insurance, an Islamic insurer.
At the time of the sale, JD Capital’s shareholders included DIC, the Social Security Investment Fund of Jordan, Arab Bank, Addax Bank of Bahrain, Oger Jordan and Unique Vantage. David Smoot, the chairman of JD Capital and chief executive of DIC, said the sale was “an opportune exit for us.”
“The time is now right to introduce a new investor able to take the business to the next stage of its development,” he said.
DIC’s portfolio includes the UK budget hotel chain Travelodge and the German industrial packaging firm Mauser. It has sold some of its smaller investments in recent years, including Oger Telecom and KEF Holdings last year.
DIC finalised a $2.5 billion (Dh9.18 billion) debt restructuring in April. Following the purchase, HPF plans to change JD Capital’s name “to reflect the new ownership”, according to the statement.
