Regional Roundup

In this edition: private equity comes to town, and the future of coprorate insolvencies in the UAE.

• Private equity players are moving in on the Middle East. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US PE giant, recently got a license to operate in the DIFC. Citadel Capital, an Egyptian firm, also smells opportunity in the Gulf and elsewhere in the region. The moves mirror recent comments from the CEO of the DIFC that private equity activity is likely to pick up, given attractive valuations created by the financial crisis. Abraaj, the UAE's biggest local PE player, has been making some noise lately, although fundraising isn't what it used to be.

• A spate of corporate defaults isn't likely in the region, according to an Emirates Business 24/7 article. Quoting the IMF's regional head (he visited the DIFC on Sunday), the article says government budget surpluses and insulation from international markets will keep the GCC's companies from going bust. Already in the UAE alone, two property companies have gone belly-up in the past three months, however (one in Ajman and one in Ras al Khaimah), and there's been some major hand-wringing of late about bankruptcy and liquidation law in the UAE.