Global Investment House, Dubai Islamic Bank and Millennium Capital to seed $500m Islamic buyout fund

As seed investors, Global, DIB and Millennium Capital will be contributing 13% of the Fund's capital. Global will be the Investment Manager to the Fund, while Millennium Capital will act as Investment Advisor.

The Fund has been set up as a parallel Shari'a-compliant investment vehicle to the "Global Buyout Fund L.P.", a $615m conventional private equity fund that was closed earlier this year and is managed by Global.

In 2007 the media foundation "Terrapinn" awarded the Global Buyout Fund the title "Fund of the Year" in recognition of Global's role in the development of the regional capital market.

The Islamic Buyout Fund intends to acquire controlling positions together with the existing Global Buyout Fund or independently in Shari'a-compliant buyout opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (incl. Turkey), South and South East Asia regions.

The Fund will target to achieve a net IRR of 20% p.a. by investing in portfolio companies where the Investment Manager and the Investment Advisor perceive the opportunity to add value through active support of portfolio companies' management and operations. Upon every successful exit from a portfolio company throughout the fund life of seven years, profits will be distributed to investors.

Shailesh Dash, CFA - Head of Alternative Investments at Global, said, "Global has a strong track record in private equity investments while Dubai Islamic Bank and Millennium Capital are pioneers in Islamic finance and bring in-depth expertise in structuring and executing Shari'a-compliant transactions. The seed investors combine a vast regional and international network of institutional and high net worth investors and have access to a continuous flow of deals through their existing relationships, which is vital to realize and exceed investors' return expectations on a risk-adjusted basis."

Furthermore, Dash emphasized, "Private equity provides the opportunity to invest in a largely untapped asset class in the MENA region. Private equity in general and Islamic private equity in particular are still in their early stages and are poised to capitalize on the ample liquidity and increasing wealth of investment opportunities in the region."

Omar Masrur, Head of Private Equity at Millennium Capital, said, "In addition to Global's deal execution capability, the Fund will have access to DIB's extensive network of medium to large-sized businesses and affiliates as an additional source of Shari'a compliant deal flow. We believe the Islamic Buyout Fund is a unique program for private equity investors in the region to benefit from the complementary strengths of two of MENA's best names, Global and DIB."

Global currently manages more than $2.2bn invested in alternative assets, including private equity. Of the $1.6bn assets under management in private equity, $1bn has been invested in 46 companies, yielding a net IRR of 55.82% as of December 31, 2007.

Dubai Islamic Bank is the one of the largest Islamic banks in the world. It is listed on the Dubai Financial Market and in 2007 its revenues and net profit stood at $1.9bn and $680m, respectively. DIB has built a strong track record in making proprietary investments. Tamweel and Dubai Islamic Insurance are just some of its highly successful investments that have been listed on public stock exchanges.

Dash concluded, "The seed investors will bring more than 400 man years of investment experience to the Fund, ensuring high deal flow, an efficient and diligent investment process, strong expertise in transaction structuring, execution and post-acquisition management as well as optimum exit strategies and timing in order to achieve maximum risk-adjusted returns."