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Abraaj appoints Tom Speechley as Aureos CEO

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Tom Speechley, a senior partner at Abraaj Capital, has been named CEO of Aureos Capital. The appointment coincides with the completion of Abraaj’s acquisition of Aureos and its emerging markets small- and mid-cap investment platform.

Sev Vettivetpillai, CEO of Aureos since 2004, is now executive chairman of the company. He has also joined Abraaj's executive committee.

The acquisition, announced in February, sees Abraaj increase its assets under management to approximately $7.5 billion across 150 investments in more than 30 countries. The Dubai-based GP already had more than $6 billion in assets in the Middle East, Turkey, Asia and Africa. Of this, $2.6 billion is in Abraaj's fourth buyout vehicle and a further $650 million is in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) platform, known as Riyada Enterprise Development.

The SME activities will be consolidated under the Aureos brand. Prior to the acquisition, Aureos had $1.3 billion under management in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In Asia Pacific alone, it had offices in 12 countries and around 50 staff.

The private equity firm was founded as a joint venture between CDC Group - the UK government's development finance arm - and Norfund. Aureos management acquired 26.5% of the company in 2007 and then took full ownership through two transactions in 2008. CDC remains a core investor in its funds.

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