Oman, Spain fund begin to explore business opportunities

Business Sunday 21/October/2018 15:21 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman, Spain fund begin to explore business opportunities

Muscat: The Advisory and Investment Committees of Spain Oman Private Equity Fund began their activities on Sunday with meetings held in Muscat, Oman.
The senior management of Spain's Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo (Cofides) and Oman's State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), as well as members of MCH Private Equity, which is a private equity firm selected by Cofides and SGRF, following an open tender that other management companies, took part to manage the fund independently.
In the light of the above, the fund has effectively launched its operations and started making progress in exploring business opportunities through MCH.
SGRF and FIEX/Cofides are the sole investors of the fund (along with the additional commitment of MCH). It involves a 50/50 joint investment by Oman and the Spanish public sector.
Spain-Oman Cofides/FIEX-SGRF Investment Fund came in the wake of the memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed in different fields during the royal visit of King Juan Carlos I of Spain to Oman in 2014.
The fund will invest in Spanish mid-cap companies that have international growth plans and interests in benefiting both countries, while initially focusing on Oman and Spain. The focus sectors of the fund are construction materials, manufacturing, mining, tourism, logistics, health, infrastructure, energy, food, and agribusiness.
The fund will allow Oman to benefit from the experience and technological knowhow of Spanish companies through the creation of employment, technology transfer and investment profitability. It will also provide Spanish companies with a new financing instrument to encourage their expansion abroad, the consolidation and growth of the parent company and, at the same time, contribute to the development of Oman and Spain.