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Al Masah forum focuses on MENA investment options

They also talked about their perspective on the economic environment globally and its impact on the region. At the two-day forum, speakers mainly focused on the health care, education and real estate in the region.

“Dubai is an amazing example of real estate, a benchmark for all,” Qatari Diar group chief executive officer Mohammed Hedfah said addressing the delegates. The company currently has 48 projects in 29 countries worth $45 billion.

“We are not building concrete, we are building communities. And whilst we acknowledge that the real estate sector has been affected by the global economic crisis we also see the opportunities that have risen from this time of reflection,” Hedfah said. Deutsche Bank’s MENA chief executive officer Ashok Aram presented his view on developments in global and regional business trends. Aram also talked about investment potential in education and healthcare sectors in the region and said there is a shortage of teachers and paramedical staff in the region.

Healthcare is a large and growing market globally and regionally. Healthcare spending in the MENA region totaled $65.6 billion in 2009.

Aram mentioned that there are three distinct areas in the region - GCC, Levant, North Africa.

The most important market is GCC and within Gulf, he said, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar have more potential for growth, expansion and investment. Al Masah Capital was lauded by speakers for being a different type of financial institution that actually manages client portfolios. They’re excellent work in the education and healthcare sector was highlighted, including more than 50 transactions in the healthcare sector in the last 15 months.

“Al Masah Capital employees are the most active healthcare investment team in the GCC, raising more AUM than the majority of regional alternative investments players,” Al Masah Capital chief executive officer Shailesh Dash said in his opening address.

“Since we obtained our DIFC license in August 2010, we have already launched five Special Funds, are in the process of launching fund six and seven, the healthcare platform is closing three deals, and the education platform is closing two deals within the next 60 days,” he added. Al Masah’s healthcare acquisitions have served more than 300,000 patients in the MENA region since 2011 and doubled in size. Al Masah is also determined to create one of the largest educational platforms in the region, encompassing the full education spectrum; such as pre–K, K–12, colleges and universities, publishing, corporate / language / vocational / professional training, in different curriculums such as Arabic, British, Indian, and International.

Al Masah Education Holding Limited (AMEHL), managed by Al Masah Capital Limited, has an expected platform size of $100-150 million, with current capital at $10 million.

The platform’s initial presence will focus on the UAE, Kuwait, and Oman, before expanding to the wider GCC including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. North Africa and Levant will be considered once political stability and visibility is established.

AMCL expects the platform to return investors an annual dividend of 8-10 per cent and an IRR of 30-40 per cent AMEHL is in very advanced stage to close 4 deals in different education sub-sectors in the region by Q1 2012 end. A strong pipeline of deals is currently present to be acquired in Phase2.

—abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com