JEDDAH, 8 November 2004 — Kuwait Finance House, Bahrain, a leading provider of Islamic commercial and investment banking services, yesterday announced the completion of two private equity investments through its $100 million New Zealand Australia Private Equity Fund launched in October 2003, bringing the total number of companies purchased through the fund thus far to four.
The first of these investments was in New Zealand-based Woosh Wireless, a dynamic and fast-growing high-speed, wireless, Broadband Service Provider (BSP), which brings to customers a unique range of products and services that offer greater freedom of portability, faster connection times and more competitive pricing. Having already established a solid market position in Auckland, the company has begun an aggressive expansion drive having recently moved into the Wellington and Christchurch markets with plans for further growth across the country. With the additional funding secured, it is expected that Woosh will have strengthened its resources and capacity to continue to roll out new products and services including wireless Voice Over IP throughout New Zealand to become one of the country’s leading brands.
The second investment was in New Zealand-based NextWindow, a leading designer and developer of optical imaging technologies in the fields of gesture and touch recognition for the commercial retailer market. NextWindow has developed an entirely new touch and gesture screen technology — compatible with nearly all of today’s displays be it plasma, LCD or even projectors — that not only recognizes where consumers place their finger on a screen, but also watches and interprets their hand movements. The company has already concluded a “Preferred Supplier Agreement” with Fujitsu Services to deliver Touchscreen Technology to the UK market and provides the technology for Vodafone and its Vodafone live!, the largest global services launch undertaken by the telecoms giant. Additional funding will further strengthen NextWindow global marketing efforts and moves toward broad based commercial production.
Commenting on the announcement, Abdul Hakeem Al-Khayyat, general manager of KFH-Bahrain, said, “We are delighted to complete these investments through our New Zealand Australia Private Equity Fund. We are committed to identifying compelling opportunities on behalf of our investors on a global basis and this philosophy is no better demonstrated than through our investments in Woosh Wireless and NextWindow — two companies with a solid business model and significant scope for growth. These two companies are anticipated to enhance the future value of the fund.” Al-Khayyat concluded, “With these investments, we look forward to working with the management teams of Woosh Wireless and NextWindow as they move forward with plans to further develop their businesses and enhance shareholder value and continue to look for additional investment opportunities in New Zealand and Australia where we see safe and solid growth prospects for our bank and shareholders.”
The New Zealand Australia Private Equity Fund, which targets investment opportunities in New Zealand and Australia, has been fully underwritten by KFH. Other investments undertaken through the fund to date include the investment in Australian healthcare provider Radius Health Group, which was completed in February 2004, and Canterbury of New Zealand, a leading rugby apparel maker.