Thursday, Sep 22, 2011
(This story was originally published Wednesday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Saudi-based private equity firm Amwal AlKhaleej said Wednesday it has put its fundraising plans, including a new $500 million fund, temporarily on hold due to the political upheavals sweeping the Middle East.
"The recent wave of political turbulence in the region makes it very challenging to raise capital for a full-fledged fund, especially from western LPs (limited partners)," according to an emailed statement in response to questions from Zawya Dow Jones.
Amwal's decision underlines the difficulties regional private equity firms face as they struggle to conclude deals, let alone raise new funds, against a backdrop of regional political unrest and a shaky global economic environment.
The private equity firm in late 2010 said it wanted to raise up to $500 million for a new fund that was expected to be launched this year.
But political unrest sweeping the region have made investors jittery and fundraising more complicated.
"In light of this, we have, for the time being, put a hold on institutional fund raising," the company said.
It added, however, that it continues to "show a strong interest in assessing deals on a case by case basis considering the current environment."
Amwal AlKhaleej was founded in 2004 in Riyadh and has offices in Dubai and Cairo.
The company manages two funds, the first of which attracted commitments of $226 million and was fully invested in 2007 with four exits realized to date, according to its website. A second fund was closed in May 2007 with commitments of $290 million, of which 93% has been deployed.
-By Nicolas Parasie, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1681; nicolas.parasie@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
22-09-11 0349GMT
