(Bloomberg) -- General Atlantic, best known for early stage investments in tech companies such as Facebook and Uber Technologies Inc., is opening its first office in the Middle East as it looks to scout for more deals in the region.
The Saudi Arabia office will be lead by Ziyad Baeshen, General Atlantic said in a statement Sunday. It aims to use the office to get closer to entrepreneurs in the region as it looks for growth companies to invest in across technology, health care, financial services, consumer and climate industries.
General Atlantic, which manages over $80 billion, named Samir Assaf to the newly created role of chairman of its Middle East and North Africa business in last year as part of a push to boost relationships with investors in the region and to help source deals. Its assets are set to swell to around $100 billion with the completion of the acquisition of London-based private equity firm Actis.
Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, which together control more than $4 trillion of assets, have become increasingly influential sources of capital for global fund managers. Over the past few years they have been putting pressure on asset managers to not just take money from the region but also to put more back into it.
General Atlantic has been investing across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region since 2012, deploying almost $1 billion, it said. It has backed firms including UAE-based payments provider Network International, and real estate classified ads business Property Finder. More recently it backed Saudi Arabia-based eyewear retailer Eyewa.
General Atlantic’s moves to forge closer ties to deep-pocketed investors in the region mirrors moves by peers such as BlackRock, TPG Capital, Ardian SAS and CVC Capital Partners who have either opened new offices or boosted headcount in the region.
General Atlantic aims for the office to “build on the momentum of a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and help build the next generation of market leading companies from the Middle East,” chief executive officer Bill Ford said to Bloomberg.
(Adds details on Actis acquisition in third paragraph)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.