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Washington D.C., May 13, 2009
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $25 million in the MENA Joint Investment Fund, a $500 million fund that will provide private equity to businesses in Egypt and other countries in the region to help strengthen companies, spur economic growth, and create jobs.
The MENA Joint Investment Fund will be launched by Citadel Capital, the Middle East and North Africa region’s leading private equity firm. It will invest in seven to 10 mid- to large-size platform companies in the region from diverse industries such as packaging, waste management and recycling, textiles, agribusiness, and renewable energy. The fund aims to create regional market leaders and support and develop companies so that they can expand beyond their local markets.
“IFC continues to see exciting opportunities in emerging-markets private equity as demonstrated by our investment in the MENA Joint Investment Fund,” said Haydee Celaya, IFC Director for Private Equity and Investment Funds. “Through this investment, IFC will help regional companies in the Middle East and North Africa access finance, while ensuring the adoption and implementation of corporate governance best practice and environmental and social standards.”
This investment builds on IFC’s existing relationship with Citadel Capital. In April, IFC invested $17 million in another Citadel Capital sponsored fund, the Sphinx Turnaround Fund, which targets smaller businesses with distressed assets in Egypt. Citadel Capital will invest about $250 million in capital alongside the MENA Joint Investment Fund, with a minimum equity investment of 10 percent in each company.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, please visit
www.ifc.org
.
About Citadel
Citadel Capital is the leading private equity firm in the Middle East and North Africa. The firm focuses on building regional platform investments throughout the region in selected industries through acquisitions, turnarounds, and greenfields executed via Opportunity Specific Funds. Citadel Capital's 19 OSFs now control platform companies with investments worth more than $8.3 billion in 14 industries, including mining, cement, transportation, food and energy. Since 2004, the firm has returned more than $2.2 billion in cash to investors, more than any other private equity firm in the region. For more information, please contact Ms. Ghada Hammouda at
ghammouda@citadelcapital.com
or visit
www.citadelcapital.com
.
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