Investcorp Accelerates $750 Million GCC Investment Strategy, Targeting Family-Owned Businesses
Investcorp, the largest alternative asset manager in the Middle East, is set to invest approximately $350 million across three to four companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through its $750 million Golden Horizon Partnership fund. Launched in collaboration with the China Investment Corporation, the world’s third-largest sovereign wealth fund, this initiative aims to enhance investments in consumer goods, healthcare, transportation, and logistics sectors across the GCC and China.
Walid Majdalani, Head of Emerging Markets Private Equity at Investcorp, stated that the firm has already deployed half of the fund, with plans to allocate the remaining capital by June 2028. He emphasized that the current focus is solely on the GCC market through the Golden Horizon fund.
Investment Roadmap
With $62 billion in assets under management, Investcorp is committed to investing in family-owned businesses within the GCC. The firm has already invested around $1.2 billion across 15 companies in the region. Notable investments include NourNet, TruKKer, and Salla, facilitated through the Saudi Pre-IPO Growth Fund, which is part of the Golden Horizon platform. The latest addition to its portfolio is Metra, an IT distributor based in the UAE.
Majdalani highlighted that over 60% of their investments in the region have been made in partnership with family businesses, maintaining a consistent investment strategy through various economic cycles. In many instances, Investcorp becomes the first institutional investor to secure a board seat alongside founding families, thereby enhancing governance practices rather than merely providing capital.
Family businesses in the region typically do not face capital constraints. Instead, they seek Investcorp’s expertise to institutionalize operations, execute acquisitions, and prepare for potential public listings. Majdalani reiterated the firm’s commitment to focusing on family businesses aiming to transition into professionally managed entities capable of scaling operations, executing mergers and acquisitions, and pursuing public offerings.
Carve-Outs and Homegrown Firms
Many regional conglomerates possess non-core business divisions that operate independently. These entities are increasingly willing to divest or sell such divisions to sharpen their strategic focus. Investcorp views these spin-offs as attractive investment opportunities, particularly in its target sectors, and anticipates that they will constitute over 20% of its future pipeline.
Majdalani cited Investcorp’s leadership role in the $130 million pre-IPO investment round for Salla, a leading SaaS e-commerce enablement platform in Saudi Arabia, as a prime example of a carve-out investment. The firm has successfully bought and sold over 250 private businesses globally in the private equity sector.
As regional uncertainty continues, Investcorp sees growing opportunities in family-owned corporate carve-outs and the transition of companies from venture capital to initial public offerings (IPOs). Approximately 20% of Investcorp’s current pipeline consists of homegrown regional companies that have outgrown venture capital funding, creating a financing gap as these businesses are too large for VC investors but too small for traditional buyout funds.
Investcorp positions itself as a growth equity investor, providing capital to help these companies scale to the next stage. The firm supports expansion until businesses are sufficiently large for strategic sales or IPOs.
Focus on Saudi Arabia
While Investcorp is open to investments across the GCC, it expects portfolio companies to have significant exposure to Saudi Arabia, the region’s largest economy. The firm has taken four companies public in the past seven years, all listed on the Saudi Tadawul stock exchange. These include L’azurde, Theeb Rent a Car Co, Leejam Sports Company, and Bin Dawood Holding, a hypermarket and supermarket chain.
Healthcare Sector Emphasis
Investcorp anticipates that healthcare will emerge as one of its primary investment themes within the GCC. The firm aims to target specialist healthcare providers through its private equity business while delegating government hospital privatizations to its infrastructure platform. Although the Golden Horizon fund has yet to finalize a healthcare investment, it has made four investments overall in the sector.
Majdalani noted that the healthcare sector is evolving rapidly, particularly in specialized services like diagnostics and laboratories. This evolution presents ample opportunities for private equity players to acquire, scale, and ultimately list these businesses or sell them to third-party buyers.
Source: www.zawya.com
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Published on 2026-07-01 08:08:00 • By the Editorial Desk
