Sunday, Nov 07, 2010
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abraaj Capital, the Dubai-based private equity firm, will announce this week five investments in small and medium-sized enterprises totalling $28 million and hopes to reach final close of its $500 million SME fund in the first half next year, a senior company executive said Sunday.
Abraaj Capital is closing the deals through its $500 million Riyada Enterprise Development Fund, an investment platform dedicated to supporting SMEs across the region.
"We're making the first five investments now for an average ticket size of $5 million," said Tom Speechley, executive director at Abraaj.
The deals span across the wider Middle East and North Africa region, and are in the media, healthcare, internet, food and IT services sectors, Speechley said.
Abraaj has already raised close to $400 million for the fund and hopes to do a final closing during the first half of 2011, he said.
-By Mirna Sleiman, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1698; mirna.sleiman@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2010 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-11-10 1111GMT
