Investcorp is a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, serving high-net-worth private and institutional clients.

Investcorp has four lines of business: private equity in North America and Western Europe, global hedge fund offerings, real estate investment in the United States and technology investment in North America and Western Europe. The ability to provide multiple product offerings to its clients is one of its key competitive strengths.

Founded in 1982, Investcorp has enjoyed a track record of consistent innovation and performance, having arranged investments with a combined value of approximately $32 billion. The Company has grown to become one of the largest and most diverse alternative investment managers in terms of both product offerings and geography, and currently has over $10 billion in invested assets under management. The Firm co-invests significantly with its clients across its lines of business to ensure a strong alignment of interests.

Geographic profile

Investcorp was conceived as, and remains, a firm that is global in its outlook, attitude and culture. It operates out of three centers: Bahrain, London and New York, and is listed on the Bahrain and London Stock Exchanges.

Private equity

The private equity team, based in London and New York, selects and arranges private equity investments. It looks for investment opportunities in mid-size companies with capable managers, prominent positions in their industries, a strong track record and potential for growth. These are the types of businesses where Investcorp's approach, which involves supporting management teams with a range of in house strategic and operational, as well as financial, resources, can most effectively increase value during the target three to seven year holding period.

The past and present portfolio includes more than 80 corporate investments, totaling $26 billion in acquisition value, in a broad range of industries and markets in North America and Western Europe.

Hedge funds

Investcorp's hedge funds business was established in 1996. Investcorp is now one of the leading institutional investors in hedge funds with approximately $5 billion under management, of which $2 billion is proprietary investment. The fund of funds program aims, through a diversified portfolio of investments in hedge funds and managed accounts, to achieve attractive returns, on a risk-adjusted basis, over a medium-term period with a low correlation to traditional and other alternative asset classes. The program offers clients a selection of funds of hedge funds with varying risk/return profiles. These are invested across different strategies through approximately 45-55 hedge fund managers.

Real estate

The real estate team, based in New York, sources and performs due diligence, and arranges financing and the acquisition of US properties that offer Investcorp clients investment opportunities with the potential for both strong cash flow and attractive capital gains over a three to five year investment period. Investcorp initially capitalizes real estate acquisitions with a combination of third party mortgage debt and Investcorp equity. The properties are typically aggregated into a series of multi-property portfolios for equity placement to our clients. As in private equity, we offer our clients discretion on their investments into real estate portfolios. The properties are aggressively asset managed over the investment term to increase cash flow from operations and to build value until realization.

Since 1995, Investcorp has acquired in the region of 200 properties, totaling approximately $6 billion in value. It currently has $3 billion of property under management. The team also advises on the real estate aspects of Investcorp's private equity investments.

Technology investment

Investcorp's technology investment team, also known as Investcorp Technology Partners, is an experienced sponsor of growth-oriented control investments in the technology sector. It invests in small to medium-sized technology-driven businesses in the US and Europe and utilize a variety of transaction types. Our fundamental investment philosophy is value creation through growth and operational improvement. Currently, the team manages two funds with total commitments of over $500 million.

The dedicated investment team is comprised of seasoned professionals with extensive technology experience and a broad range of operational and financial backgrounds. It has significant professional experience covering all aspects of the investment cycle, including deal origination, transaction structuring, post-investment management and investment realization. Operating as one decision-making unit across two offices in New York and London, the multi-national team can leverage Investcorp's global network for its portfolio companies. Over the last six years, the team has undertaken more than 30 investments in the US and Europe.

Gulf Growth Capital

On 20 November, 2006 Investcorp, announced that it was launching a new line of business, Gulf Growth Capital, that will provide investment opportunities primarily in the GCC region. Through its first fund, Investcorp Gulf Opportunity Fund I, this new business will make investments in greenfield “build” projects, as well as making buyout and growth capital investments. The fund will source and create unique investment opportunities with the aim of bridging the needs of the region with businesses, technologies and know-how from around the world. It is anticipated that the fund size will be at least $500m, and, as in its other lines of business, Investcorp will co-invest alongside its clients, thus ensuring a strong common interest with its clients.

The timing of this initiative exploits the current favourable economic outlook for the region as well as a maturing investment climate. Governments are channeling a large proportion of their oil surpluses to long-term development of their economies in order to create jobs for their fast growing populations, diversify their economies, and generate more value from their hydrocarbon resources. The private sector is also very active in response to government efforts to create a more attractive investment climate. This has led to enormous investment opportunities and strong deal flow. In addition, it is now both feasible and attractive to deploy private equity in this region as a result of the availability of acquisition financing, the ability to exercise control and influence to add value to investments and the growth in exit options.

External links

• Investcorp home page