DUBAI Investcorp, the Middle East's largest alternative asset manager with $62 billion under management, is preparing to deploy roughly $350 million across three to four companies in the Gulf states through its $750 million Golden Horizon Partnership fund.
The vehicle, launched last year in partnership with China Investment Corporation — the world's third-largest sovereign wealth fund — targets consumer, healthcare, transport, and logistics sectors spanning the GCC and China.
The firm has already deployed approximately 50 per cent of the fund's capital and expects to commit the remaining $350 million by June 2028, according to Walid Majdalani, Head of Emerging Markets Private Equity at Investcorp.
"Currently we are deploying capital in the GCC only through Golden Horizon, and about 50 per cent of the fund has been deployed so far," Majdalani said in an interview with an online media.
A deepening partnership
Investcorp's Gulf strategy rests on a distinctive foundation: a decades-long track record of partnering with family-owned enterprises.
The firm has invested approximately $1.2 billion across 15 companies in the region, with more than 60 per cent of those investments executed alongside founding families. Through its Saudi Pre-IPO Growth Fund — part of the broader Golden Horizon platform — Investcorp has backed companies including NourNet, TruKKer, and Salla, all based in Saudi Arabia. Its latest investment is Metra, a value-added IT distributor headquartered in the UAE.
Majdalani stressed that the firm's commitment to the family-business segment has endured across market cycles. "We've continued investing through the region's economic cycles," he noted, underscoring the long-term orientation that distinguishes Investcorp's approach from more opportunistic capital providers.
Crucially, Investcorp often becomes the first institutional investor to take a board seat alongside a founding family. The value proposition, Majdalani explained, goes well beyond capital provision. Gulf family businesses are typically not capital-constrained. Instead, they turn to Investcorp to institutionalise operations, execute acquisitions, and prepare for cross-border expansion or a potential public listing.
"We will continue to ramp up our focus on family businesses in the region who want to transform into professionally managed companies that can scale across geographies, execute M&A and, if they choose, eventually list," Majdalani said.
Conglomerate opportunity
Beyond traditional family partnerships, Investcorp is positioning itself to capture a growing wave of corporate carve-outs. Many regional conglomerates operate non-core divisions that are run independently. As these groups sharpen their strategic focus, they are increasingly willing to spin off or divest such units.
Investcorp views these transactions as compelling opportunities, particularly within its target sectors, and expects carve-outs to account for more than 20 per cent of its deal pipeline going forward.
Majdalani pointed to Salla, the leading Saudi SaaS e-commerce enablement platform, as a representative carve-out investment, in which Investcorp led a $130 million pre-IPO funding round. The transaction highlights the firm's ability to identify and unlock value in subsidiary businesses that benefit from independent ownership and professional stewardship.
The carve-out theme aligns with broader regional dynamics. As geopolitical and economic uncertainty widens, conglomerates are reassessing portfolio structures and divesting non-core assets, creating a richer opportunity set for disciplined, well-capitalised investors like Investcorp.
Bridging the VC-to-IPO financing gap
A further pillar of Investcorp's regional investment thesis involves the transition zone between venture capital and public markets. Approximately 20% of the firm's current pipeline consists of homegrown regional companies that have outgrown venture capital funding but remain too small for traditional buyout funds — a classic financing gap that Investcorp aims to bridge.
Majdalani described the firm's positioning as that of a growth equity investor, providing capital to help these businesses scale to the next stage. The value proposition extends well beyond funding, encompassing operational support and strategic guidance that enables companies to reach a size and maturity suitable for a strategic sale or initial public offering.
A Saudi-Centric Mandate
While Investcorp evaluates opportunities across the GCC, it expects portfolio companies to maintain significant exposure to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom remains the region's dominant economy and most dynamic growth market, a reality reflected in Investcorp's listing track record.
The firm has taken four companies public in the last seven years — L'azurde, Theeb Rent a Car Co, Leejam Sports Company, and Bin Dawood Holding — all of which were listed on the Saudi Tadawul exchange.
The concentration of IPOs on the Saudi bourse underscores the depth and liquidity of the kingdom's capital markets and their central role in Investcorp's value-creation playbook.
Healthcare: An emerging thematic priority
Investcorp expects healthcare to become one of its most significant investment themes in the GCC. The firm is targeting specialist healthcare providers through its private equity business while leaving government hospital privatisations to its separate infrastructure platform.
Healthcare remains a priority sector under the Golden Horizon fund, although the vehicle has not yet completed a healthcare investment despite having deployed across four deals. Majdalani signalled that this could change, noting that the sector is poised to become an important driver of future activity.
"As a group, we've invested in healthcare before and are familiar with the sector. It is certainly one area we are focusing on going forward," he said, adding: "The sector is evolving rapidly, especially in specialised services including diagnostics and labs, offering ample opportunities for private equity players to make acquisitions, scale them up in size and scope, and ultimately list them or sell them to a third-party buyer."
