Middle Eastern Family Offices

A consortium of investors from the Middle East, led by Cibola Capital, has acquired Australian Patinack Farm for $100 million.

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the current owner Nathan Tinkler has invested more than $500 million in the operation of this racing and breeding operation since its inception in 2007. (Patinack Farm comprises of three properties including a 3,300 acre breeding facility, a 1,000 acre training facility and 950 acres of undeveloped horse country and a bloodstock of close to 600 horses)

To see listing and contact emails of investors and family offices from the Middle East, check our 2014 edition of Middle East Investors Directory

More details follows from The Sydney Morning Herald and their release

AC Milan co-chief executive Barbara Berlusconi, daughter of Silvio Berlusconi, said she would travel to the Middle East to seek investors for the club.

The family of former Italian premier is considering selling a stake of up to 30 percent in AC Milan. Some other Italy clubs are already controlled by foreign investors: Indonesian business tycoon Erick Thohir and partners bought a majority stake in Inter Milan last November. Fellow Italian club AS Roma is controlled by an American investment group.

To see listing and contact emails of investors and family offices from the Middle East, check our 2014 edition of Middle East Investors Directory

More details follows from Reuters:

Italy's $8 billion jewelry industry is drawing interest from Middle East investors, with one deal to be announced very soon - Reuters is reporting.

"We've seen acquisitions in recent years of companies like Pomellato and Bulgari and it's not over. We should see something very soon from a Middle East player," says Corrado Facco, managing director of VicenzaORO fair, one of the world's top gold jewelry fairs. "A lot of foreigners are looking and we've had a series of offers", Italy's famous jeweler Roberto Coin told Reuters.

(And if Italian jewelry industry is not enough, Middle East investors can, meanwhile, acquire Italian football clubs; Cagliari is close to being taken over by a Qatar investment group for around $100 million)

To see listing and contact emails of investors from the Middle East, check our recently updated Middle East Investors Directory

More details from Reuters here.

An unnamed Middle East investor has approached NBA commissioner last month to buy one of four NBA franchises - Financial Times is reporting.

No deal has been reached so far, but the NBA commissioner David Stern says the takeover of some of the 30 NBA franchises by overseas investors is inevitable. (It is estimated that LA Lakers and the New York Knicks are worth more than $1 billion, and the NBA is expected to generate $5.5 billion in revenues this season.)

To see listing and contact emails of investors from the Middle East, check our Middle East Investors Directory

More details from Financial Times here.

Middle East investors are the major drivers of increased activity in the European commercial real estate market, twice of all Far East investors combined - the global consultancy firm CBRE reports.

In the first half of 2013, investors from the Middle East have increased investment activity, accounting for 21 percent of cross-border transactions, almost twice the 11 percents of far east investors. Half of the total comes from the region’s sovereign wealth funds. Transactions from Middle Eastern buyers show a strong bias towards London (nearly 50 percent of the total) and offices.

To see listing and contact emails of real estate investors from the Middle East, check our Middle East Investors Directory

More details follows:

We love the international appetite of investors from the Middle East: after the collapse of former carrier of Hungary, Malev in 2012, now a new airline called Solyom is being formed with the help of two major investment firms from Oman and UAE.

The company mentions it all started "when an e-mail was sent to a potential investor on February 6, 2012". Now Solyom mentions "a tourism enterprise registered in Oman" and "a well-capitalized investor with extensive international relations registered in Dubai" as its two strategic investors. It is planning to fly to 31 destinations in 2013, 51 destinations in 2014, and 96 destinations by 2017.

To see listing and contact emails of investment firms from the Middle East check our Middle East Investors Directory.

More details follows:

The number of Middle Eastern clients setting up family offices in Singapore has doubled in the past year and will continue to grow as they focus more on Asia - DBS Private Bank in Singapore says.

Speaking at the Asia-Middle East Investment Summit in Singapore last week, Terry Farris, head of family office services at DBS Private Bank in Singapore, says he expects 50% of his firm’s discretionary portfolio management to be on behalf of Middle Eastern wealth by the end of June.

To see a list of family offices from the Middle East, check Middle East Investors Directory

More details from Asian Investors

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, and Kingdom Holding Company announced investment of $300 million in Twitter.

Dow Jones is reporting that this $300 million represents a 3 percent stake in the company. Kingdom Holding already holds roughly 7 percent stake in News Corp as well. As DubaiBeat reported back in 2010, they had also acquired stake in GM for $500 million.

Kingdom Holding Company is listed in the Middle East Investors Directory with the code BFD84.

More details follows