Tejoori Limited launched

Tejoori seeks capital growth through investments in Sharia compliant ventures worldwide by way of long term, reliable and secure investment programmes. The Sharia based, international investment company will be regulated in Guernsey.

The Dubai-based Tejoori is to be registered in Guernsey prior to listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The company plans to raise USD 100 million with a minimum launch capital of USD 65 million via private placements prior to its listing on the London Exchange. Prominent Middle East investors have been invited to take part in the initial capital raising; whilst this is likely to be oversubscribed, it is also likely that the directors may allow for further placement to additional interested investors given the current level of market demand.

Tejoori will invest strictly in accordance with Islamic principles, combining professional account management, superior analytical technology and consistent capital growth opportunity in Sharia compliant ventures across the globe. Sheikh Fawaz Bashraheel was named as Chairman of the newly constituted Board of Directors of Tejoori Limited. Other nominated directors include Lawrence Elms (also the Acting Chief Executive), Ahmed Abbas, Stef fen Schubert and Khamis Buharoon - all highly experienced and experts in their respective fields.

Mr Elms brings a wealth of experience in developing global projects for a number of Governments within South East Asia and the Middle East. Most recently, Mr. Elms was employed by the Dubai Government on a number of large-scale developments.

Mr Abbas currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Liquidity Management Centre (LMC). LMC's shareholders are Dubai Islamic Bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank, Kuwait Finance House and Islamic Development Bank. Mr Schubert has 20 years experience within the financial industry. Currently, Mr. Schubert is the Chief Executive Officer of the new Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX). Prior to this, he was Chief Executive Officer at the EASDAQ exchange and played a crucial part in the eventual sale of the exchange to NASDAQ. Mr.
Buharoon has 18 years experience within the field of banking. Prior to joining TEJOORI he was acting CEO of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and head of domestic banking at National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). Additionally, he has 11 years experience in the UAE Central Bank.

Disclosing details about the company's core values and investment philosophy, Sheikh Fawaz said: «Tejoori Limited is aimed at becoming a world-class Sharia compliant investment company driven by clear values and principles, which focus on foresight, innovation and prudence. Our core philosophy centres on promoting multicultural understanding and building bridges between cultures and countries through our investment initiatives.» Whilst achieving Tejoori's social philosophy, the Company will also ensure that the underlying business entity is commercially viable for both shareholders and employees on a continuing basis. Epitomizing its inherent values and in keeping with Sharia compliance, Tejoori has announced that it will donate 2.5 per cent of its net asset value on an annual basis to charities for distribution to social causes.

The initial list of potential investments is directed to opportunities within the GCC, Middle East and Asia, but not restricted by reference to any market, sector or geographic
location. «Specific targeted sectors include investment services, oil and gas upstream, real estate, aviation, agriculture, telecommunications and petrochemicals,» he said, adding that prior to any investment initiative, «all proposals will be reviewed and approved by the renowned Dr Hussain Hamid Hassan, currently president of the Fatwa and Sharia Supervision Boards of reputed Islamic Banks and financial institutions.» It is anticipated that the exit strategy for most of Tejoori's investments will be via IPO's. Other potential investments may include purchasing significant equity positions, for capital gain, in certain Islamic financial institutions already listed on a stock exchange.

Added Sheikh Fawaz: «We at Tejoori will be flexible in our investments policy - be it venturing into a wide variety of transactions to diversify our exposure to any market, country, start up ventures, mature business and/or companies whose shares are already publicly traded.»

Tejoori will also be flexible in terms of the way in which it makes its investments, equity investment, bank finance or a combination of both. Tejoori has selected a reputed investment advisory firm to advise on the management of Tejoori's assets and to provide various advisory services. «The advisors shall identify and evaluate the investment opportunities and present them for approval by Tejoori. Tejoori will supervise the activities of the investment advisors.»

Following its listing, Tejoori will seek to establish two companies, an Islamic Finance Company and a Financial Services Company.