Abraaj teams up with USAID to launch $100m Pakistan PE funds
The US Agency for International Development (USAID), The Abraaj Group and JS Private Equity Management (JSPE) will launch two private equity funds focused on Pakistani small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah said the pooled funds will initially be $100 million, "which we expect will grow many fold into hundreds of millions of dollars in investment."
As part of the Pakistan Private Investment Initiative, USAID will contribute $24 million each to the funds while Abraaj and JSPE will match or exceed the commitment. Private funds will also be raised from other limited investors.
The announcement came at the end of the first day of a US government-sponsored investment conference on Pakistan, held in Dubai.
Abraaj's investments in Pakistan include a $361 million commitment in the Karachi Electric Supply Company, made in 2008. That same year it also bought into Pakistani energy firm Bosicor. The firm also holds a majority stake in automotive components manufacturer MS Forgings, via the Abraaj BMA Pakistan Buyout Fund formed in2006 in collaboration with BMA Capital.
Karachi-based JS Private Equity is the PE arm of financial management services firm Jahangir Siddiqui & Company. In 2010, it received a $50 million commitment from US policy investor the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for its JS Private Equity Fund II.
Earlier this week USAID committed $100 million to Nereus Capital's India Alternative Energy Fund.
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