Published: March 17, 2009
The Abu Dhabi Investment Company (ADIC) has hired a new head of private equity to lead a charge for buy-outs in the Middle East and North Africa at a time when the global economic crisis is starving promising companies of capital.
Samir Assaad Samaan joins ADIC from NBK Capital in Dubai where he headed the firm’s private equity operations.
“With the global economic crisis hampering corporate financing, our nimble private equity fund should continue to thrive as a valuable capital source for growing companies,” says ADIC CEO Nazem Fawwaz Al Kudsi.
He adds that potential deals are starting to emerge in the region’s deepest markets, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.
Because of the credit crunch, the value of buy-outs globally sank last year, but Al Kudsi states that reputable funds could still secure bank loans in the Middle East and North Africa, to help seal small- and medium-size deals of up to US$250mn.
“Over three decades we’ve built up a strong reputation, and now we can plug our investor clients into our deal-making networks,” says Al Kudsi. “The family-run firms that dominate the region are hungry for capital and expertise, to help them make their operations more efficient, and to expand their businesses across the region.”
Although distressed assets are likely to flood the market in the next couple of years, ADIC’s private equity fund is on the lookout for firms with solid cash flows, and in ‘defensive’ areas that can best weather the global economic downturn. Those would include healthcare, education, telecoms, consumer goods, logistics and distribution.