Private Equity Deals & Transactions

Investcorp hits PE firsts for fiscal half year

The Bahrain-headquartered investment manager made its first acquisitions in Asia’s two largest markets and struck two secondaries deals, in a bid to diversify and expand its holdings.

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Investcorp is working hard and fast to make sure it achieves its global expansion strategy and reaches $50 billion in assets under management over the medium-term.

The Bahrain-listed firm’s private equity business, which makes up 24 percent of its total assets and one of the focus areas for its expansion, had a series of firsts in the firm’s fiscal half year ending 31 December, according to its interim results published Tuesday.

Investcorp secured its first deals in China and India – Asia’s two largest markets – with the acquisition of the private equity and real estate units of IDFC Alternatives and a $250 million commitment to China Everbright’s artificial intelligence and smart retail-focused fund.

It completed its first fully placed private equity deal in the US with United Talent Agency. Investcorp also signed two secondaries deals in the last six months – a $185 million continuation vehicle with HarbourVest Partners for its 2007-vintage technology fund and a restructuring process with Coller Capital which has resulted in a roughly $1 billion European private equity buyout fund.

In a region faced by headwinds such as economic and political instability, and most recently, concerns around transparency and governance, Investcorp is bucking the trend among Gulf-headquartered firms with its Asia expansion and ambitious growth target of $50 billion.

Investcorp’s private equity investment activity was $416 million in the fiscal half year ended 31 December, up 39 percent from $300 million in H1 FY 2018. Placement and fundraising more than doubled in the period to $548 million while distributions also more than doubled to $952 million from $432 million in H1 FY 2018.

The firm’s AUM, meanwhile, remained stable at $22.5 billion, of which private equity made up $5 billion.

Commenting on the H1 FY 2019 results, Mohammed Alardhi, executive chairman of Investcorp said in a statement that the firm’s H1 results are due to its “continued focus on delivering its strategic goals”, which are to expand globally, to increase commitments from institutional clients, and to offer more products to clients.