Abraaj Capital, the largest private equity firm in the Middle East and North African region has announced Joint Venture with Sabre Capital, one of the leading private equity firms in India, to form Sabre Abraaj Capital.
Both Abraaj Capital and Sabre Capital will hold 50:50 stake in Sabre Abraaj Capital. It may be recalled that in 2004, Abraaj Capital had entered into a joint venture with the Pakistan-based BMA Capital Management and acquired 50 percent strategic stake in BMA Capital, through the Abraaj Buyout Fund, for over Rs 400 million (US $ 7 million).
Abraaj's expertise in private equity, real estate and portfolio investments has allowed BMA to exploit the tremendous opportunity in these areas in Pakistan.
The newly formed entity 'Sabre Abraaj Capital' will launch a $250 million fund that would take majority, or significant minority, stakes in listed and unlisted Indian companies. Rana Talwar, Chairman, Sabre Capital, will be the Chairman of the private equity fund.
The Investment Committee will be chaired by Arif Naqvi, CEO & Executive Vice-Chairman, Abraaj Capital, whereas Rajiv Maliwal, Managing Director, Sabre Capital, will be a member of the Investment Committee.
Naqvi said that Abraaj was delighted to enter into this joint venture with Rana Talwar's hugely successful venture, Sabre Capital, as it plays a strategic role for both parties. UAE's non-oil trade with India has already touched $ 8 billion.
This JV will further bond the special relationship between the Middle East and India, and create the next step in their mutual economic growth. He admired Talwar, who has a solid track record of engineering success in this region.
Talwar, Chairman, Sabre Capital, said that they were pleased to partner with Abraaj Capital which is the established leader in private equity.
The tremendous track record of Naqvi, personified by Abraaj Capital's roaring business in the Middle East, will complement India's connections and expertise perfectly.
"Abraaj Capital has the proven expertise in investing in buyouts and special situations in the Middle Eastern & North African markets and we look forward to complementing each other's capabilities."
Abraaj Capital has an extremely distinguished Board of Directors to oversees its business. Apart from Abdulrahman Al Turki and Arif Naqvi, it includes regional business leaders such as Hussain Al Nowais (non-executive Vice Chairman), Sultan al Qassimi, Bassam Ghais and Hamid Jaffar from the UAE, Nawaf Nasser bin Khalid al Thani from Qatar, Saud Kanoo from Bahrain, Fadi Ghandour from Jordan and Ashok Aram (representing Deutsche Bank).
The Executive Director team comprises Shirish Saraf, Waqar Siddique, Simon Davies and Frederic Sicre, who lead a team of over 70 professionals.
The new Fund will close by the end of 2006, and investments will start from 2007. The funds will be raised through institutional investors from the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
The Fund will invest in Indian companies that have strong growth prospects across different sectors including retail, BPO, IT, auto ancillaries, life sciences, leisure and travel, entertainment and healthcare.
Sabre Capital's Board is led by Rana Talwar, a former CEO of Standard Chartered Global, former Executive Vice President & Policy Committee member of Citicorp & Citibank and successful organiser of Diners Club consumer services world-wide.
Rajiv Maliwal, Co-founder and Managing Director, Sabre Capital, who has over two decades of banking experience in Asia, most recently as Global Head for Private Equity, Standard Chartered Bank; Nigel Kenny, Co-founder Sabre Capital, was formerly Group Finance Director at Standard Chartered Bank, and Harpal Randhawa, Co-founder Sabre Capital, who co-founded Antfactory as Chairman and CEO are the distinguished board members of Sabre Capital.