Investcorp

Investcorp is a manager of alternative investment products, serving high-net-worth private and institutional clients. Its principal client base is in the six countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council, but it also has institutional clients in North America and Europe. Its three offices (New York, Bahrain and London) work together to identify investment opportunities and place investments.

Investcorp offers investments to its clients in three business classes: corporate investment, real estate and hedge funds. Founded in 1982, it has arranged investments with a combined value of approximately $44 billion. Unlike most private equity firms, it typically places the equity of companies and real estate properties it acquires directly with investors, i.e. on a deal-by-deal basis, rather than through a fund structure. In addition, the firm has raised a number of funds, including a Gulf Opportunity Fund investing in the MENA region, and a number of technology funds.

From its roots in corporate and real estate investment, Investcorp diversified in 1997 into hedge funds, in order to provide clients with a broader range of alternative investments. Non-Gulf investors, mainly in the US, now account for around two-thirds of Investcorp’s hedge fund client assets under management, with $1 billion in new US hedge fund mandates being secured in 2009.

The company currently has approximately $12 billion in invested assets under management across its three asset classes. In 2011, it ranked 67th in the PEI300 (Private Equity Index 300) ranking of private equity firms by assets deployed, with $4.68bn invested in private equity over the last five years.

Investcorp maintains relationships with over 1,000 high-net-worth and institutional investors throughout the Gulf through its placement team of around 30 professionals, who cover the Gulf countries out of Bahrain.

Investcorp is regulated in Bahrain as a wholesale bank, and has traditionally utilised long-term and medium-term bank financing, including private placements and syndicated loans, in order to ensure a longer maturity profile. The company’s capital adequacy ratio (Basel II) at its last year end was 22.9%. The company is listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE), with a financial year end of 30 June.

To date Investcorp has been seen as politically neutral; however, their portfolio company, Moneybookers, ended its relationship with Wikileaks in August 2010 as a direct result of U.S. government pressure.