Abu Dhabi investment house plans distressed fund

With the global economy slowing down, ADIH is planning to capitalise on the opportunities in distressed assets.

This could be the first distressed assets fund from the Middle East. The Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) is planning to launch a fund to acquire distressed assets, reports Khaleej Times, sourcing a top official. The likely size of the fund or the timeline of the launch is not known.

The firm is however looking at new sectors like cleantech and pharma, and expanding to newer geographies. “The investment house will continue to expand geographically to chase business opportunities and would diversify its investment portfolio by including two new business sectors of clean energy and pharmaceuticals,” Jowa’an Awaidha Al Khaili, Chairman of ADIH said, while releasing company’s financial performance for 2008. It’s looking at markets like North Africa, Asia and Europe.

The investment house saw a net profit of Dh260 million, reflecting an 18 per cent year on year increase from Dh220 million in 2007. ADIH’s total income for 2008 was Dh427 million, a 36 per cent year-on-year increase from Dh315 million in the previous year.

ADIH Managing Director Rashad Janahi said that with an IRR of 20.2 per cent, the company made a successful final exit of the Arabi Private Equity Fund.

The company has entered into partnership with Kuwait’s Gulf Finance House and Ithmaar Bank of Bahrain forming a “Vision 3 Alliance” to develop funds and projects in the agriculture, infrastructure, and hospitality sectors.

The investment house last year launched an Indian Entertainment City Fund, a $400 million Shariah compliant fund to invest into a mixed use real estate project in India.

The company launched a $3 billion mega luxury living, leisure, and entertainment project in Qatar, apart from real estate projects in Morocco and Lebanon.

-- Copyright 2008 VCCircle.com. All rights reserved.

This content/article is provided by Mosaic Media Ventures Private Limited and not by Reuters. All rights, including copyright, in this content/article provided by VCCircle.com are owned or controlled by Mosaic Media Ventures Private Limited. The content may not be copied, broadcast, downloaded and stored (in any medium), transmitted, adapted or changed in any way whatsoever without the prior written permission of Mosaic Media Ventures Private Limited.