By DPA
Manama : Bahrain-based Khaleej Finance and Investment (KFI) has partnered with two Kuwaiti investors to manage a $200-million Indian private equity fund.
KFI, Kuwait Investment Company (KIC) and Kuwait Finance House (KFH), also known as Baytak, have signed a partnership agreement to manage and promote the Sharia compliant fund, targeting a variety of activities with controlled risks in growing sectors, particularly real estate and industry in India.
The fund is designed to reach an internal rate of return exceeding 25 percent at the end of the investment period of five years.
The fund has an investment period ranging between three and five years and is partially underwritten in Kuwait by Warba Investment Co.
KFI chief executive Nabil Hadi, Baytak general manager Mohammed al-Omar and KIC chairman Badr al-Sbei Sunday emphasized the importance of the fund and said that it represents a strategic step forward for their institutions.
"The Indian private equity fund constitutes a qualitative change in the activities of KFI and is designed to help the bank go beyond the regional level," Hadi said.
Hadi said the partnership was part of KFI's strategic vision of building alliances and strong long-term relationships with banks and investment institutions in the Gulf.
KFI has already started to establish strategic alliances with institutions in Europe and Asia, Hadi said.