PE firm Actis takes on management of two Abraaj funds

Private equity firm Actis said on Monday it had acquired the rights to manage two private equity funds previously managed by collapsed buyout firm Abraaj, in a deal aimed at strengthening its position in the Middle East and Africa.

Actis will take over the management rights to Abraaj Private Equity Fund IV and Abraaj Africa fund III, it said in a statement.

Abraaj, which filed for provisional liquidation in June 2018, was the largest buyout fund in the Middle East and North Africa until it collapsed last year in the aftermath of a row with investors over the use of money in a $1bn healthcare fund.

The transaction includes investments in 14 portfolio companies across the two funds, Actis said.

“This Abraaj transaction further bolsters Actis’ footprint in the growth markets and follows the addition and integration of Standard Chartered’s Principal Finance Real Estate business in Asia in 2018,” it said.

Actis now has $12bn under management and more than 250 people across 16 offices.

The Actis transaction comes after the finalisation of two other Abraaj deals – the transfer of management of the $1bn healthcare fund to U.S. buyout fund TPG and the sale of Abraaj’s Latin America fund to Colony Capital.

NBK Capital Partners, owned by Kuwait’s biggest lender, walked away from advanced talks to buy a global credit fund previously managed by Abraaj, Reuters reported last month.

U.S. prosecutors have in recent months charged several senior executives of Abraaj with criminal charges, accusing them of taking part in a massive international scheme to defraud investors.