Gulf Capital, the largest private equity firm in the Gulf region, said an economic corridor from the GCC to South and Southeast Asia will drive global growth over the next three decades.
It will be driven by fast-growing intraregional trade and increasing investment flows between the Middle East and east Asia, it added.
Bilateral trade between the GCC and emerging Asia, which includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and India, will be growing at six percent annually to reach $578 billion by 2030.
Dr. Karim El-Solh, co-founder and chief executive officer of Gulf Capital, said these two regions “form the world’s fastest growing economic corridor, and will remain so in the foreseeable future.”
He added: “The Gulf region is attracting global investors who are looking at growth prospects from the Gulf region to South and Southeast Asia, where a new modern Silk Route is taking shape.
“Two-thirds of our investors in our private equity funds are global institutional investors from Europe, Far East, and the US and they are all keen to come to our region to secure direct exposure to this fast-growing economic corridor.
“Our global investors are particularly impressed by the positive developments and the strong traction in Saudi Arabia, which grew at 8.7 percent in 2022, making it the fastest growing major economy in the world.”
Gulf Capital will launch its fourth private equity fund later this year when it finishes investing in its current $750 million GC Equity Partners Fund III, the largest private equity fund in the Gulf region.
The pivot toward Asia will be reflected in the investment thesis of Fund IV.
As a thematic investor, Gulf Capital invests in five priority sectors including technology and fintech, health care and healthtech, business services, consumer and sustainability.
The company has invested almost SR3 billion ($800 million) to date in Saudi Arabia. This includes its investment in the leading Saudi fintech company Geidea, which has been expanding rapidly in the Kingdom and across the Middle East since Gulf Capital’s original backing.
Gulf Capital’s portfolio companies are witnessing double-digit growth, and many have hit record profitability, buoyed by the strong growth of both the underlying sectors and the regional Gulf economies.
The fair value of GC Equity Partners III was up 62 percent over the last two years in sharp contrast to the global stock market correction in 2022.
In light of its strong performance and recent exits, Gulf Capital was voted by global industry peers as the “Best Private Equity Firm in MENA” at the Private Equity International 2022 Awards this week.
