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MerchantBridge Launches Mesopotamia Fund To Invest In Iraqi Equities |
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International private equity group, MerchantBridge, announced today that it will target equity investments in the Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX)MerchantBridge, the international private equity group with diverse investment interests operating from Iraq, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, has launched an Iraq equity fund, the “Mesopotamia Equity Fund Ltd”. The Mesopotamia Fund is an open ended fund that will capitalize on the expected long term growth of the Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX). The market capitalization of the exchange, which reopened in 2004, has doubled to $3 billion in the past five years and it currently has more than 90 listed companies, mostly untouched by foreign portfolio managers. MerchantBridge’s new fund is being launched at a time when the government of Iraq is pushing for a number of key sectors to be privatized. An improving regulatory environment and an increasingly positive outlook is attracting international and institutional investors. Liquidity will grow further as the exchange extends its trading hours beyond the current two hours per day. With infrastructure projects worth more than $220 billion announced and oil companies already investing in excess of $100 billion, oil production capacity will increase five-fold in the coming years. As a result, economic activity in the country is set to expand significantly. Basedon IMF estimates, Iraq’s GDP is expected to grow at a rate higher than its GCC neighbors and most emerging markets in the coming years. Mr. Basil Al-Rahim, MerchantBridge Group Chief Executive Officer, said today: MerchantBridge is the largest private investor in Iraq to date, with investments of over US$1.5 billion in debt and equity since 2003. Mr. Eric le Blan, MerchantBridge Chief Operating Officer, added: |
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