19 November 2007
Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c), a leading international investment firm headquartered in Bahrain, announced that it and its affiliates have completed the sale of South Staffordshire, the UK based water company, to the Alinda Infrastructure Fund. Over the three year holding period, the investment has delivered more than double the original targeted rate of return to investors.
Arcapita acquired South Staffordshire in November 2004. Since then, Arcapita has worked closely with the management team as they have developed the regulated and non-regulated sides of the business. The regulated business has been consistently ranked in the top three in Ofwat's performance assessment for the past seven years and has 99.97 per cent compliance with EU water quality standards.
Atif A. Abdulmalik, Arcapita's Chief Executive Officer, said: "This is the second exit from our European Asset-based business since September, both of which have both outperformed significantly. We are pleased at the performance of the portfolio overall, and although the current environment in the credit markets is holding down valuations, in the last 3 months we have completed exits with a transaction value of more than $1.5 billion."
Asim Zafar, Global Head of Asset-Based Investments commented, "In general, the attraction of asset-based investments is the prospect of stable returns throughout the holding period. In addition, South Staffordshire achieved good growth in its unregulated businesses, which has enhanced the overall return very satisfactorily. We will continue to evaluate further opportunities in this popular asset class across all regions, in response to high demand from our investors."
Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c), a leading international investment firm headquartered in Bahrain, announced that it and its affiliates have completed the sale of South Staffordshire, the UK based water company, to the Alinda Infrastructure Fund. Over the three year holding period, the investment has delivered more than double the original targeted rate of return to investors.
Arcapita acquired South Staffordshire in November 2004. Since then, Arcapita has worked closely with the management team as they have developed the regulated and non-regulated sides of the business. The regulated business has been consistently ranked in the top three in Ofwat's performance assessment for the past seven years and has 99.97 per cent compliance with EU water quality standards.
Atif A. Abdulmalik, Arcapita's Chief Executive Officer, said: "This is the second exit from our European Asset-based business since September, both of which have both outperformed significantly. We are pleased at the performance of the portfolio overall, and although the current environment in the credit markets is holding down valuations, in the last 3 months we have completed exits with a transaction value of more than $1.5 billion."
Asim Zafar, Global Head of Asset-Based Investments commented, "In general, the attraction of asset-based investments is the prospect of stable returns throughout the holding period. In addition, South Staffordshire achieved good growth in its unregulated businesses, which has enhanced the overall return very satisfactorily. We will continue to evaluate further opportunities in this popular asset class across all regions, in response to high demand from our investors."
© Bahrain Tribune 2007
