Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF) will become an anchor investor in the new Gulf infrastructure fund recently formed by Bahrain-based Investcorp and Aberdeen Standard Investments. 

PIF has committed up to 20 percent of the total size of the fund, which is expected to invest in core infrastructure projects in the region, a statement confirmed on Thursday.  

The statement did not give the size of the fund, but the Financial Times reported that it could be around $800 million and its first close will be $250 million.

Investcorp and Aberdeen announced in May the appointment of former United Kingdom secretary of state for defence, Sir Michael Fallon, as chairman of their joint venture, Aberdeen Standard Investcorp Infrastructure Partners (ASIIP).

The fund looks to participate in the economic transformation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

Investcorp also confirmed that the fund has already received board approval from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to commit $90 million.

Other global institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, family offices and private clients are also expected to invest. 

Saudi Arabia’s investment in the fund is in line with its Vision 2030 objectives, which include building strategic economic partnerships, unlocking promising economic opportunities and deploying capital to support sectors with significant long-term growth potential. 

“We believe that investing in infrastructure is critical for supporting long-term economic growth and we are proud that our joint venture with Aberdeen Standard Investments has secured commitment from PIF and will now look to drive sustainable value for all stakeholders,” said Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-chief executive officer of Investcorp. 

“PIF is one of the largest and most impactful sovereign wealth funds in the world and a driving force in Saudi’s economic transformation… We are thrilled by our partnership,” added Sami Neffati, managing partner of ASIIP. 

(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria) 

Cleofe.maceda@refinitiv.com 

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