Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) Chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal announced that the first Kingdom Zephyr fund (PAIP I), a fund run by Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management (KZAM) has achieved an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 94% in three years and a Cash-on-Cash Multiple of 2.4 times. KHC has a 50% ownership of KZAM (GP) and 50% ownership of Zephyr Management LP (New York based Private Equity Firm).
HRH Prince Alwaleed commented: "The PAIP I results reflect the outstanding achievement of KZAM and our positive investment strategy in Africa."
Mr. Ahmed Halawani, Executive Director of Private Equity at KHC commented: "We are very proud of the results achieved by PAIP I. It translates our original vision that Africa's investment climate remains extremely fertile and will continue to attract capital from all over the world. With our partnership with Zephyr we will remain pioneers in the African Private Equity sphere and our track record will solidify our pioneer position. We believe that the economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world will continue to reward investors as the African economic climate continues to improve."
KZAM is a general partnership between Kingdom Holding Company and Zephyr Management LP. to focus on investment opportunities in the region and pan-African businesses. It is worth mentioning that the first fund (PAIP I) has invested more than US$100 million in private equity opportunities in Africa in sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, IT, equity markets, and real estate as well as in retail, mining, and business services. It focuses on investing in multi-country enterprises with a healthy capacity for growth and an ability to compete domestically and regionally. KZAM's investment portfolio includes companies such as, Letshego, Celtel, Ecobank, CNIA Assurance and TBU.
KZAM operates according to a business philosophy that focuses on the broad growth of commercial momentum - chiefly through managerial skills and capacity development - across the African continent. The firm's investments are carefully geared around active partnerships with 'high value' African companies. It is through these active partnerships that Kingdom Zephyr is able to minimize the risk and maximize the returns of doing business in emerging African markets.
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For more information, please contact:
Kingdom Holding Company
Tel: +966 1 211-1111
Fax: +966 1 211-1112
© Press Release 2007
