| Type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private Equity |
| Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Key people | Arif Naqvi, Founder & CEO |
| Products | Investments, private equity funds |
| Total assets | $6.6 billion |
| Website | www.abraaj.com |
Abraaj Capital is among the world's 50-biggest private equity groups, and invests in the growing Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region, a region also known as MENASA. Abraaj manages about $6.6 billion of funds and stakes in about two dozen companies, including some of the best known in the MENASA region. These include GEMS, the Middle East's biggest privately owned operator of schools; Acibadem, Turkey's leading operator of premium hospitals, and Al Borg Laboratories, the Middle East's biggest privately owned medical-testing laboratory company. Abraaj's network of offices spans seven countries, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Pakistan. The group is based in Dubai
Abraaj's core business is private equity. It manages seven funds; four buyout funds, one in real estate, one investing in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and an income-generating sale-and-leaseback fund. Since inception in 2002, Abraaj has raised about $7 billion and returned almost $3 billion to its investors. In all, it and its predecessor entity, the Cupola Group, have made more than 35 investments in 11 countries, and exited 20. The internal rate of return averages almost 8%.
Abraaj's strategy is to identify sectors with great growth potential and, within those, well-managed companies with the capacity to become regional, if not international champions. Successes include Aramex, the Middle East's largest courier company, and Maktoob, an on-line portal which was recently bought by Yahoo! About 130 people from 29 nationalities work for Abraaj.
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