Bahrain's Investcorp Sets Up $1 Bln Fund with China's CIC

Alternative investment company Investcorp has launched a $1 billion fund backed by China’s sovereign wealth fund CIC to invest in companies across Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf region and China, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The platform, which will also be anchored by institutional and private investors from the Gulf region, will target “high-growth companies” in sectors such as consumer, healthcare, logistics and business services.

Bahrain-based Investcorp said CIC’s commitment “comes at a time when the GCC’s appeal to institutional investors is gathering pace.”

Investcorp’s Executive Chairman, Mohammed Alardhi, said: “This commitment by CIC, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, is a testament to Investcorp’s unparalleled franchise in the GCC and reinforces the trust placed in the firm’s global platform and teams.”

“We are looking forward to building on this relationship and growing our partnership in the future,” he added.

“Investcorp is perfectly placed to facilitate cross border cooperation and investments between the GCC and China,” the firm’s Co-CEO Hazem Ben-Gacem was quoted as saying in the statement.

CIC, which is owned by China’s State Council, or cabinet, invests overseas through two subsidiaries, CIC International Co and direct investment vehicle CIC Capital Corp. It also has a domestic investment unit, China Central Huijin.

“During the past couple of years, we have built several bilateral funds with leading financial institutions to facilitate industrial cooperation between China and major economies in the world. Currently we are working closely with Investcorp to build a similar bilateral fund to strengthen financial and industrial ties between China and GCC countries,” said Dr. Bin Qi, Executive Vice President and Deputy CIO of CIC.

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