Investcorp, a leading global alternative investment firm based in Bahrain, announced today (January 10) that it is planning to invest up to $1 billion in the real estate market across the GCC over the next five years.
The group kicked off its investment spree with its first real estate acquisition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – a brand new, state-of-the-art, 215,000 sq ft temperature-controlled warehouse located in Dammam, for $100 million.
The Dammam warehouse is fully leased to Racking Systems Logistics Services Company (RTL), a third-party logistics company, which serves the Saudi market in the temperature-controlled warehousing and distribution segment, said a statement from Investcorp.
The investment in the Dammam warehouse – which can store up to 32,000 pallets of goods – will bring the value of Investcorp’s global warehousing logistics investments to over $4 billion, representing approximately 42 million sq ft of industrial space, it stated.
A first of the real estate investments in the region, Investcorp is currently studying more assets in KSA, said its top official.
“The Saudi Arabian real estate market is experiencing strong growth. The logistics and industrial sectors have enormous potential as key pillars of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 agenda to transform it into a leading industrial powerhouse and a global logistics hub,” remarked Hazem Ben-Gacem, the Co-CEO of Investcorp.
“Investcorp is a natural partner in this growth journey, and this acquisition leverages our global experience investing in the logistics sector – particularly in the US, Europe and India. This is the first in a series of investments that we are planning to make in the near future – with a view to investing $1 billion over the next five years,” he added.
According to Investcorp, the acquisition follows another recent investment in the GCC logistics sector.
In September last year, Investcorp’s Gulf Pre-IPO Growth Fund led a $100 million financing round in TruKKer Holding Limited, Mena’s largest digital freight network.
Investcorp also acquired a majority stake in NourNet, one of Saudi Arabia’s leading Connectivity and ICT services providers.
Since establishing its presence in KSA in 2008, Investcorp has publicly listed four Saudi businesses on Tadawul, generating over $40 billion in potential demand from their respective pre-listing marketing exercises.
As of December 2022, Investcorp’s portfolio companies employ over 20,000 employees across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Babak Sultani, the Head of GCC Real Estate at Investcorp, said: “Our first acquisition of a warehouse facility in the GCC expands on our recent activity in the region where we see long-term growth dynamics, particularly in the Saudi Arabian market.”
“We have ambitious plans across diversified real estate sectors that support healthcare, education, entertainment, consumer goods, tech-enabled services, manufacturing, transport and logistics, and industrial services,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service