Investcorp planning at least 3 exits in the next 12 months, co-CEO says

Bahrain investment firm is also eyeing $5bn investments a year

Saudi Arabia and its allies said they were in discussions in June to offer Bahrain an economic package. Getty Images

Investcorp, the Bahrain-based alternative investment firm that has US$21.3 billion in assets under management, plans to exit at least three companies in the next 12 months and is eyeing US$5 billion investments a year, its co-chief executive said.

The company, that counts Abu Dhabi strategic firm Mubadala Investment Company as its largest shareholder with a 20 per cent stake, is focusing on exits in the Arabian Gulf, the US and Europe, Rishi Kapoor told The National.

“Right now, we’ve got a portfolio of around 30 companies that we own across the US, Europe and the Gulf and over the course of the next 12 months, we’re hoping to exit three or four of those companies, a couple from the Gulf and a couple from the US and Europe,” said Mr Kapoor.

Since its inception in 1982, the Bahrain-listed company has made over 170 corporate investments in the US, Europe and the broader Middle East and North Africa region, including Turkey, across a range of sectors and more than 450 commercial and residential real estate investments in the US, for a transaction value exceeding $55bn.

Investcorp is expanding its client coverage and its product lines as part of a strategy to boost its assets under management in the coming years through acquisitions and organic growth.

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It bought last year UK-based 3i Group’s $12bn debt management business that has allowed it to increase its assets under management by broadening its investor base, product offering and geographical reach.

“Every year, if you look at the last several years, in terms of new investment activity in companies, we’re doing somewhere between $700m to $1bn. In real estate somewhere between $500m to $700m, [and] then in private credit last year alone we did $3.4bn of investment so it runs into close to $5bn [a year],” Mr Kapoor said.

He remains bullish about investments in the US and Europe, despite challenges in those markets, with protectionism taking a hold in the US and Brexit threatening the economic prospects of the UK.

“We’ve been investing in the UK before it was part of the EU and while it was part of the EU and we will continue to invest in the UK after it is out of the EU, because we look at the long term fundamentals of the country,” he said.

The company, in August, reported a 34 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to $120.3m from $90.1m in the financial year that ended in June.

Investcorp said in August Mohamed El Erian, the chief economic adviser for insurer Allianz, has joined its advisory board. Deepak Parekh, chairman of HDFC, the Indian financial services conglomerate, was also appointed to the firm's international advisory board.

Investcorp made a series of waves internationally after it was formed with a string of American purchases including the jewellery firm Tiffany & Co, Gucci, Saks Fifth Ave and Circle K convenience stores.