MUSCAT: Independent investment firm ewpartners has welcomed investment pledges totaling $150m from Oman Investment Authority (OIA), the country’s integrated sovereign wealth fund, aimed at developing an array of strategic sectors in the Sultanate of Oman and the wider GCC region.
The Saudi-headquartered investment platform is among a number of local and international entities named as beneficiaries of funding support announced by the OIA on Wednesday via its new investment vehicle Future Fund Oman (FFO). A total of 19 project initiatives, of a combined value of $2.1 billion, were unveiled on the occasion as collaborative endeavours involving FFO and various international partners.
According to ewpartners, OIA joins a number of leading international investors and sovereign wealth funds in backing the ‘ewpartners Technology Innovation Fund II’, a $1 billion private equity fund that aims to invest in expansion-stage technology and technology-enabled investments in Oman and the GCC states.
Also as part of their collaboration, ewpartners and Future Fund Oman will partner in the establishment of a local fund through which ewpartners will support Oman’s 2040 Vision by leveraging products, technologies and capabilities of industry champions from matured markets, especially China, to build successful companies. Sectors targeted for investment will include Advanced Manufacturing, ICT, Renewable Energy, Logistics, Tourism and Agriculture.
Mulham bin Bashir al Jarf, Deputy Chairman of Oman Investment Authority, said the projects, including the local fund with ewpartners, represent Future Fund Oman’s first batch of investments since its launch earlier this year, with strong interest from both local and international investors.
ewpartners’ Founder and Managing Partner Jessica Wong, commented: “We are proud to be selected by the OIA for this important investment mandate as Oman looks to achieve its ambitious National Vision 2040. We have invested on behalf of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the GCC for seven years using a cross-border strategy with Asian partners to identify opportunities for economic transformation and deliver financial returns.
“We aim to facilitate the knowledge-sharing between East and West, leveraging established markets’ capabilities for the benefit of the region. We remain ready to deliver on the economic transformation agenda of the GCC and assist companies in Asia who see the impact they can have in supporting the GCC in its objectives.”
Formerly known as eWTP Arabia Capital, ewpartners is a well-established private equity firm in the Gulf region that has capitalized on alliances with regional wealth funds, including the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, to help advance their respective national economic visions.
In 2017, ewpartners became the first private equity fund to set up an Asia-MENA cross-border investment platform that has since helped power the growth of a number of local and regional businesses. To date, ewpartners has investments in a total of 18 GCC portfolio companies with industry leading Asian enterprises such as Alibaba Cloud and J&T Express.
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