Leading shareholders in Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), plus new investors, have added an additional $100 million growth capital to the group’s balance sheet to develop private equity opportunities across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the GCC, ahead of the forthcoming Financial Investment Initiative (FII8) in Riyadh on 29-31 October 2024.
The new raising, which was oversubscribed, brings additional growth capital for promising private equity (PE) and private credit projects across the GCC. Contributors to the fundraising included one of the largest Saudi institutions, the Al Nahdi family office, Shurooq (the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority), and existing GII stakeholders.
A leading Shariah-compliant global alternative investment group with over US$4.5 billion of assets under management (AUM), GII’s recent investments include two deals this year with Brookfield Asset Management in the UAE (the acquisition of GEMS Education in a consortium led by Brookfield and the sale of GII’s UAE logistics network). GII also took a majority share in Al Meswak Dental Clinics (the largest chain of Saudi dental and dermatology centres), a significant stake in the Abeer Medical Company, a logistics joint venture with Logipoint in Jeddah, and investments through its GreenCorp food production and food processing platform in Badia Farms and Emad Bakeries in Jeddah. Additionally, GII runs two PE funds in India and is examining further deals in the Indian PE space.
Mohammed Alhassan, co-founder and co-CEO of GII Group, commented, “This additional capital raise strengthens our balance sheet further, on the back of GII’s existing investments in GCC healthcare, food production and logistics ventures. The new growth capital will support projects in the Kingdom under Vision 2023, adding further foreign direct investment (FDI) and creating additional jobs for Saudi citizens, and other GCC projects being developed currently.”
Pankaj Gupta, GII’s co-founder and co-CEO, added, “GII plans further expansion within the Arabian Gulf through acquisitions and co-investments with Saudi Arabia and other GCC investors. FII provides an important opportunity to discuss our business partnerships to invest in Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding economy, bringing attractive returns and definitive benefits for our investors and shareholders, and to discuss and develop regional investment projects.”