OPIC approved $455 million for five MENA private equity funds

The board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) approved a total of $455 million in financing to support the establishment of five private equity investment funds designed to invest in companies in the MENA region.

In June 2009, President Obama announced that the United States would launch an investment fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries. OPIC responded by issuing a call for proposals to manage a Global Technology and Innovation Fund, intended to catalyze private sector investments that promote technological growth in OPIC-eligible countries Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The five funds approved were among 87 responses to the call.

The investment funds approved by the OPIC:

-- Riyada Enterprise Development Growth Capital Fund with an approved $150 million financial support - Abraaj Capital Group as fund manager
-- Accelerator Technology and Innovation Capital Partners with $25 million financial support - AcceleratorTech Capital Partners (owned by Accelerator Technology Holdings) as fund manager
-- KIPCO Opportunity Fund with $150 million financial support - KIPCO Private Equity (owned by Kuwait Projects Company) as fund manager
-- Citadel Capital Joint Investment Fund with $100 million financial support - Citadel Capital Management Limited (wholly owned subsidiary of Citadel Capital SAE) as fund manager
-- Siraj Palestine Fund I with $30 million financial support - Siraj Fund Management Company (owned by Massar International) as fund manager.

Abraaj Capital Group is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code OR01, KIPCO is listed with the code OR35, Accelerator Technology Holdings is listed with the code OR03 and Citadel Capital is listed with the code EM08.

More details from their release follows