Private equity outfit Ezdehar expects to reach first close on its second fund by November, founder and Managing Director Emad Barsoum told us. The firm expects its Ezdehar Egypt Mid-Cap Fund II will reach first close with USD 100-120 mn in commitments from limited partners. A second and final close that will leave the fund with a total of USD 160-180 mn is likely to take place in 1Q2022, he said. Ezdehar had originally targeted USD 200 mn fund with two closes of about USD 100 mn each.

Among the LPs: Celebrity businessman Naguib Sawiris has made a commitment for USD 20 mn, the UK’s CDC is in with USD 25 mn, and the European Investment Bank has committed USD 15 mn. Other potential investors include the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

The new fund will focus on manufacturing, pharma, healthcare, consumer goods, F&B and education, Barsoum previously told us. He told the local press last year that the new vehicle will mainly target Egypt-based companies with single-transaction ticket sizes of USD 10-30 mn.

This second fund will invest its money over a four-year period in six to eight transactions, Barsoum told Al Borsa, which broke the news. The fund will target mid-cap companies, family business and founder-led companies.

Covid has set the firm’s plans back a year: The company previously planned to reach first close in late 2020, but was delayed due to covid. Ezdehar was also aiming for the second close of the fund to come before the end of the year.

The firm is presently looking at the potential launch of an impact investing fund later this year or next, Barsoum previously said. Impact investing is when the folks committing capital do so in the expectation that their investment will have a positive environmental and social impact at the same time as it generates a financial return.

The first fund: The company launched its first USD 100 mn investment vehicle, Ezdehar Mid-Cap Fund I, in 2016 to invest in mid-cap companies.

CORRECTION– 27 September 2021: A previous version of the story incorrectly said that the fund will raise USD 160-180 mn in the second close alone. The USD 160 mn figure refers to the fund’s total raised amount from both the first and second close.

OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS-

Six financial institutions are taking part in launching an EGP 500 mn real estate fund that will invest in commercial and administrative properties, Allianz Egypt head Ayman Hegazy told us. The fund will be up and running as soon as regulators give the go ahead, he said, without disclosing when he expected to get the green light.

The six institutions: Allianz Egypt with EGP 150 mn, Banque Misr and Misr Life Ins. with EGP 100 mn each, Banque du Caire with EGP 75 mn, United Bank with EGP 40-50 mn and the Arab Contractors Pension Fund with EGP 25 mn.