London and Moscow hedge funds launching PE funds targetting Middle East investors

In two separate announcements in the past week, two hedge funds announced launching private equity funds this year targeting Middle Eastern investors.

The Moscow-based Pharos Financial Group announced it will launch two private equity funds this year in joint venture with Dubai-based Miro, each of which is targeted to raise $350 million. One is an agriculture fund focused on Eastern Europe and Africa and other is a timber fund. It expects to raise more than 50% of the capital for its agriculture fund from the Middle East.

The London-based asset management firm Silk Invest announced it will launch a $150 million private equity fund to invest in South African food sector and expects to raise over one-third of its assets for the new fund from the Middle East.

More details from their releases follows