5th Annual Private Equity World MENA Conference Selects Winners from Across the Region

Four months of intense competition and careful selection by an independent panel of judges resulted in announcing the winners of the 5 ^th Private Equity World MENA Awards 2009. The Awards ceremony that took place on the 23 ^rd of November in Dubai, brought together over a hundred GPs, LPs, Investors and Private Equity Funds from across the region and worldwide to recognize and celebrate companies and individuals that have continually set standards of excellence and demonstrated an unparalleled ability to succeed.

The annual event celebrated its 5 ^th anniversary in the Middle East, where it is considered to be the most prominent regionally focused Private Equity event. The Awards are recognition of institutions that have done something truly exceptional where the nominees were selected by an independent judging panel of international and regional industry specialists.

To this end, Jonathan Greenhalgh, Director of the Private Equity World and Hedge Funds World programs at Terrapinn and organizer of the conference, stated:

“The Awards recognize the efforts and professionalism of leading firms, highlighting excellence in performance, service, management, personnel in the MENA region, and operations. Tonight we are celebrating the achievements of organisations and individuals who have shaped and created this industry, and have taken progressive steps to achieve the desired goals. The past year witnessed a new landscape for doing business, where the achievements are even more worthy given the global financial crisis.”

Five awards were presented to institutions from all over the region.

Capivest won the "Deal of the Year" 2009 Award. This was awarded to Capivest for the sale of Falcon Cement Company, which was established in 2005 by BCC Building Materials as the first cement plant of its kind in Bahrain. On the 4th of December 2008, Capivest sold Falcon Cement Company awarding its investors with a Return on Investment (ROI) of 101.75% and an Internal rate of Return (IRR) of 26.94% in two years and 10 months instead of the initial targeted investment term of five years, despite the international financial crisis. The Award was collected by Mr. Nader Al Qassab, Senior President at Capivest.

Allen & Overy won the “Professional Services Firm of the Year” 2009 Award for boosting their presence in the past year in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with nine partners and associates relocating to offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Having along with over 30 years experience in consultation of all aspects of venture capital and private equity transactions in the MENA region, Allen & Overy has over the past 12 months boosted their presence in the Middle East with partners and associates relocating to offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The combination of corporate, equity capital markets, leveraged finance, securitisation, mezzanine, high-yield and a full range of other finance expertise and transactions in the Private Equity space lead to winning this Award.

The Citadel Capital won the "Best Private Equity House" 2009 Award. In early 2009 Citadel Capital partnered with industry leaders to create the Sphinx Turnaround Fund, anticipating that tight credit would further threaten many of MENA’s otherwise promising SMEs. In September 2008 ahead of a flood of worldwide funds into the sector, Citadel Capital created Sabina, a platform for agriculture investment in Africa’s fertile regions. Citadel Capital has since acquired rights to more than 500,000 acres of Nile River accessible land with plans for large-scale cultivation and sugar processing. In March 2009 Citadel Capital’s Platform Company in the mining sector, ASCOM, began production at its new EUR 20 million, 180,000 ton-per-annum calcium carbonate plant. These and other build-ups at Citadel Capital’s existing platforms are expected to sustain average overall sales growth of more than 25%, and average profits growth of close to 150%. Still, Citadel Capital also completed two successive, fully subscribed fundraisings to boost its ability to quickly contribute sizable equity portions to financing arrangements as opportunities appear. Citadel Capital, ranked the 75th largest private equity house in the world and the largest firm in Africa by Private Equity International, has returned US$2.2 billion in cash to co-investors since 2004, more than any other private equity firm in the MENA. Hence, Citadel Capital won the “Best Private Equity House.” The Award was presented to Mr. Marwan Elaraby, Managing Director of Citadel Capital, at our Gala Dinner by Mark O Hare, Founder and Managing Director, Preqin Ltd (UK), who was the Chairman of the Private Equity World MENA conference and on the Awards judging panel.

The “Best New Private Equity Fund” 2009 Award went to Rasmala for the Rasmala Private Equity Fund 2, L.P. This is a Shariah-compliant private equity fund with an innovative and unique focus on mid-cap growth equity and buyouts in the MENA. It seeks to make investments in established companies operating in non-cyclical sectors driven by real domestic demand and supported by secular trends including population growth, increasing affluence, rising consumerism and a strong government will to upgrade and expand its social infrastructure. Moreover, its sectors focus, which includes food and beverage, healthcare, retail, and some elements of specialized services, are underrepresented in the region’s public equity markets – a fact that further underlines the unique investment opportunities presented by the Fund. The Best New Private Equity Fund Award was presented to Mr. Tamer Bazzari, CEO, Rasmala Investment Bank.

The prize for "Best Venture Capital Firm" 2009 Award went to Riyada Ventures (RV) that is a regional venture capital firm with offices in Amman, Jordan and Cairo. RV aims at creating big successes through the arbitrage of talent, capital, relationships, and markets in the region and beyond, with a cross-border approach. It has a portfolio of more than 20 venture capital investments regionally and internationally in which it has invested more than US$120 million. RV aims to create a successful track record for itself and for the asset class in the Middle East through a deal per deal business model in which it proactively sources out, evaluates, structures, and prices venture capital investments, and then packages them together in small funds, and special purpose vehicles for an inner circle of investors that it has been working very closely with for the past 5 years. By adopting this model, RV has been the most active venture capital firm in the region, and amongst the most active PE firms at large, having closed 5 investments in 2009, a year in which the whole PE industry closed a mere 15 deals as per the stats from the Gulf Venture Capital Association. The Award was presented to Mr. Khaldoon Tabaza, CEO and Founder of Riyada Ventures. Khaldoon Tabaza has been selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, and sits on the Global Agenda Counsel on Entrepreneurship. He is a frequent writer and speaker on VC and entrepreneurship in the MENA region.

The “Special Merit Award” - for “outstanding contribution to the industry” - is awarded to an individual who has been instrumental in the forward development of the private equity industry in the Middle East. For 2009, this Award and accolade was awarded to Mr. Ahmed Heikal, Chairman and Founder, Citadel Capital. Few people in the Middle East and North Africa can claim to have created two world-class financial institutions in their lifetimes. Ahmed Heikal can, having first built the second-largest emerging markets investment bank anywhere in the world before creating in 2004 what is already the leading private equity firm in the MENA region and the 75th largest private equity player worldwide. Mr. Heikal founded Citadel Capital in 2004 with initial capital of just US$350,000. Today, the firm controls investments of more than US$8.3 billion across 14 industries, including mining, oil and gas, transportation and food. Its footprint expands well beyond its home base in Cairo, reaching 12 countries across the Middle East and Africa as it continues to penetrate some of the world’s fastest growing markets. The Award was presented by Mike Hughes, Managing Director - Head, Global Transaction Banking – MENA, Deutsche Bank; sincere congratulations go to Mr. Ahmed Heikal.

The complete list of winners is as follows:

3 ^rd Annual - Private Equity World MENA Awards, 2009

The Award winners for 2009

“Deal of the Year”		Capivest

“Professional Services Firm of the Year”		Allen & Overy

“Best Private Equity House”		Citadel Capital

“Best New Private Equity Fund”		Rasmala Private Equity Fund 2

“Best Venture Capital Firm”		Riyada Ventures

“Special Merit Award”		Mr. Ahmed Heikal, Chairman and Founder, Citadel Capital