DUBAI, UAE, November 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Abraaj Capital Group announces that it agreed to acquire all of Riyada Ventures the leading venture capital firm in the MENA region. The acquisition is at the core of a major new push by Abraaj into the small and medium enterprise (SME) space, which is aimed at stimulating and supporting entrepreneurial activity in this vital segment of the MENA region's economies.

Riyada Ventures, which was set up in the Jordanian capital, Amman, in 2005, this week won the 'Venture Capital Firm of the Year' award for a second straight year at the Private Equity World MENA 2009 conference in Dubai.

Riyada Ventures, whose track record encompasses more than 25 regional and international venture-capital transactions, also operates an office in Cairo. Its founder and CEO Khaldoon Tabaza has worked in the MENA venture-capital industry since 2000, prior to which he set up several high-growth entrepreneurial ventures. In 2006, the World Economic Forum (WEF) named him a 'Young Global Leader'.

Riyada Ventures will be integrated by Abraaj into its newly launched regional SME and Entrepreneurship initiative. Khaldoon Tabaza will continue as the CEO of the new business line of Abraaj.

Abraaj has enjoyed significant past success in the SME space, having been an early backer of Maktoob.com, the leading Arab language portal recently acquired by Yahoo! It was also the original institutional investor in companies of the caliber of Arabtec, Aramex and Amwal at very early stages of their growth stories, each one resulting in significant returns for the Dubai based PE firm.

Through the new initiative, Abraaj will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in SMEs across MENA with the aim of creating high-impact, high-growth, successful businesses to fuel innovation, job-creation, sustainable growth and economic diversification. At its core, the platform will give enormous support to the indigenous entrepreneurship that exists across the broader region.

Abraaj will work with governments, regional and international development and investment organisations, and Abraaj's investor base to provide a pan-regional platform from which investments will be made.

In addition to the commercial objectives of the platform, Abraaj will also provide entrepreneurial support at the grassroots level in the form of business mentoring, training and technical assistance so as to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit in business communities across the region.

For companies in which it invests, Abraaj will provide a dedicated back-office platform to offer both strategic support services and operational functionality to facilitate growth plans and provide mentorship to the young entrepreneurs in the SME space, which comprises more than 80% of economic activity across the MENA region.

As a further commitment to the countries in which it will invest, Abraaj will allocate a portion of the funds raised for a given nation to the development needs of its less fortunate communities by partnering with an established sustainable development fund that provides patient capital and that subscribes to the philosophy of sustainable philanthropic capital.

Founder and CEO of Abraaj, Arif Naqvi, said: "We are delighted to welcome Khaldoon and his team at Riyada Ventures into the Abraaj group, to spearhead our regional enterprise-development initiative. Abraaj is committed to creating the region's largest dedicated platform to support entrepreneurship and innovation within the high-growth economies of the MENA region."

Founder and CEO of Riyada Ventures, Khaldoon Tabaza said: "Abraaj's groundbreaking initiative in the SME and entrepreneurship space will be a positive inflexion point in the development of high-impact, high-growth ventures in the MENA region. We are honoured and delighted to be part of the Abraaj success story."

About Abraaj Capital: Dubai-based Abraaj Capital is the largest private equity group in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA). Since inception in 2002, it has raised about US$ 7 billion and distributed almost US$ 3 billion to investors. It has made more than 35 investments in 11 countries and exited 20. The group operates offices in five countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey. About 155 people work in Abraaj, including around 75 world-class investment professionals. Abraaj has holdings in some 25 companies, including some of the region's most prominent, such as Air Arabia, the region's biggest low-cost carrier; Acibadem Healthcare Group, Turkey's biggest privately owned operator of premium hospitals; and Al Borg, the Middle East's biggest medical-testing laboratory company. Abraaj has won several international awards, including 'Middle Eastern Private Equity Firm of the Year' from London-based Private Equity International four years in a row. Abraaj Capital Ltd., a member of the Abraaj Capital group, is licensed by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, while the group is also an associate member of the European Venture Capital Association. Abraaj's commitments to Corporate Social Responsibility include a US$ 10 million educational trust fund for Palestinian children who lost parents during conflict in Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009. The Abraaj Capital Art Prize, the world's most generous art prize, is designed to support artists from the MENASA region.

This document is issued by the Abraaj Capital Group and is intended for general information purposes only. It does not constitute an offer or solicitation for any business transaction or investment advice.

    For more information, please contact:

    James Cordahi / Eliane Menassa
    Switchboard: +971-4-506-4400
    Emails: communications@abraaj.com; james.cordahi@abraaj.com;
    eliane.menassa@abraaj.com

    Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC)
    Gate Village 8, 3rd Floor
    PO Box 504905
    Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    http://www.abraaj.com

SOURCE Abraaj Capital Group

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