INVESTCORP, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, was named the ‘Best Private Equity firm in MENA' at the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2017, which took place in Dubai last Thursday. The award comes following a very successful period for Investcorp and its clients, which saw the Firm double its assets under management (AuM) to approximately $22 billion, and make distributions to Investcorp and its clients totaling $1.1 billion in the six months to Dec. 31, 2016, a 123% increase over distributions in the same period the previous year. Mohammed Al-Shroogi, Co-CEO at Investcorp, said "this award is a testament to the significant progress Investcorp has made towards achieving its ambitious growth strategy and its ability to deliver strong investment returns. We have made great strides forward in laying the foundations for the next phase of our growth and we remain focused on our vision to provide our clients with a diversified range of superior alternative investment opportunities across different geographies and asset classes." In the last 12 months, since May 2016, Investcorp has invested in 10 companies across a range of sectors and markets. Among these deals was AlixPartners, which saw Investcorp partner with two leading pension funds to acquire the professional services firm, demonstrating Investcorp's ability to collaborate with other blue chip institutional investors on co-investment opportunities. Looking at exits, highlights include the IPO of L'azurde on the Saudi Stock Exchange, which was the first majority private equity-owned business in Saudi Arabia to list on Tadawul. Investcorp also made a partial exit from PRO Unlimited, which resulted in Investcorp returning around $474 million to Investcorp, co-investors and Investcorp's clients less than two and half years after making the initial investment. Established in 1999, the annual Banker Middle East Awards are widely acknowledged as the most important recognition of financial excellence in the Middle East.
