Abu Dhabi Capital Management
17 January 2012
Abu Dhabi Capital Management announces the intention of Qannas
Investments Limited to raise up to $50 million as part of a $200
million investment program, and admit its shares to trading on
AIM
Abu Dhabi Capital Management ("ADCM") today announces the
intention of Qannas Investments Limited (the "Company" or "Qannas")
to apply for the admission of its shares to trading on AIM, a
market of the London Stock Exchange Plc ("Admission"), and to
proceed with an initial offering by way of a placing of its
ordinary shares to institutional and other investors.
The Company will take the form of a newly-established,
closed-ended investment company incorporated in Jersey and
regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission. ADCM, an
alternative investment management firm based in Abu Dhabi, will act
as investment manager to the Company.
Qannas will seek to generate a target IRR of at least 20 per
cent by investing in a diversified portfolio of undervalued equity
and debt investments, with a focus on the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) countries.
Highlights
-- Opportunity to invest in undervalued GCC assets through a
manager (ADCM) with a track record in the target region. It is
currently intended that the Company's investments will be held for
3-5 years with the intention of realising values in line with the
anticipated economic recovery.
-- Optimal capital use: the capital raising programme is
designed to minimize cash drag. Qannas intends rapidly to deploy
the proceeds of the IPO and subsequent capital raises to a maximum
of $200m. Investors will have full pre-emption rights but will have
no obligation to participate in future capital raises.
-- Fee structure designed to align the interests of the
investment manager with those of the shareholders.
Qannas Chairman Chris Ward commented, "We believe that this is
an under-invested region with strong credentials, including strong
economic growth rates and a wealth of natural resources: GCC
countries hold 35 per cent of the world's known oil reserves and 22
per cent of global gas reserves. Liquidity dislocation in the
region has led to declines in asset values, creating compelling
investment opportunities. Qannas offers a rare opportunity for
international investors to access these markets and tap into the
expertise of a manager with specialist local knowledge."
Investment strategy
The Company's investment strategy is to utilise ADCM's
investment expertise to acquire assets at a discount to their
intrinsic value from vendors who are either distressed or seeking
to re-position their investment portfolios. It is intended that the
Company will invest 80 percent of its capital in the GCC region
with the balance utilised opportunistically on a global basis.
Board
The Qannas board will consist of four directors: three
independent directors and Jassim Alseddiqi, CEO of ADCM. It will be
chaired by Chris Ward.
Investment Manager
ADCM was established in January 2011 and currently manages more
than $100 million in assets for institutional and high net worth
investors, deployed in private equity and debt investments. The
ADCM investment team, which is based in Abu Dhabi, is led by Jassim
Alseddiqi and comprises six investment professionals with a total
of more than 40 years of investment management and finance
experience.
Advisers
Deloitte is acting as Nominated Adviser to the Company and
Daniel Stewart & Company as broker. Appleby has been appointed
as Jersey legal adviser, and Herbert Smith LLP as English law
adviser. BDO is the auditor and reporting accountant. Appleby Fund
Administrators (Jersey) Limited will act as administrator and
custodian.
For further information please contact:
Maitland Tel: +44 (0)20 7379 5151
Liz Morley
Andrea Coleman
Sam Turvey
Tom Eckersley
Biographies of the Board
Chris Ward, Non-Executive Chairman
Chris Ward, aged 62, has had nearly 30 years' experience in
corporate finance, during which time he has advised on many
transactions and capital raisings in a wide variety of sectors and
particularly in the private equity market. Chris was an equity
partner of Deloitte in the UK from 1979 to 2008, when he relocated
to Dubai, and held a number of roles at various times, including
Head of Corporate Finance Advisory in the UK and Global Head of
Corporate Finance. More recently, from September 2008 to May 2011,
Chris established and ran the Financial Advisory Services practice
of Deloitte in the Middle East, as the CEO of Deloitte Corporate
Finance Limited, a company regulated by the Dubai Financial
Services Authority.
Chris was also responsible for establishing the private equity
and real estate fund placement business at Deloitte in the UK.
Chris has also served as a member of the Board of the Corporate
Finance Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
England & Wales ("ICAEW"). He was the Faculty's Chairman from
2004 to 2008 and during his tenure the Faculty launched the
Corporate Finance qualification. Until his move to Dubai, he was a
member of the Council of the ICAEW. In 2011, he received the award
of "Outstanding Achievement in Corporate Finance" from the
ICAEW.
Richard Prosser, Non-Executive Director
Richard Prosser, aged 51, a chartered accountant, is a partner
of the Appleby Group and a director of its wholly owned trust
company, Appleby Trust (Jersey) Limited (a corporate and fiduciary
administrator authorised to conduct trust company business in
Jersey). In addition, he chairs the Investment Policy Committee of
Appleby Trust, which monitors and evaluates the performance of the
asset managers throughout the group.
Mr Prosser is a director of a number of companies quoted in
London and elsewhere, including property companies, hedge funds and
investment management companies. He is chairman of Aberdeen Latin
American Income Fund Limited (which is traded on the London Stock
Exchange's Main Market), Damille Investments II Limited (which is
listed on the Specialist Fund Market of the London Stock Exchange)
and Threadneedle Investments (C.I.) Limited (the manager of the
Threadneedle Property Unit Trust). He is also a non-executive
director of Threadneedle European Property Fund. Mr Prosser is a
resident of Jersey.
Andrew Whelan, Non-Executive Director
Andrew Whelan, aged 45, has 24 years experience as an investment
professional and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Securities
& Investment Institute. Andrew was a founding partner of
Ermitage Group following its MBO in 2006 from Liberty Life, South
Africa's pre-eminent life assurance business, backed by Caledonia
Investments a venture capital firm. Andrew joined Liberty Ermitage
in 2001 and was a Group Executive Director and Managing Director of
Ermitage Global Wealth Management Jersey Limited. Andrew's primary
responsibility was to manage Ermitage's Wealth Management business,
for which he was also CIO.
Prior to joining Liberty Ermitage, Andrew worked for Kleinwort
Benson part of the Dresdner Private Banking Group, where he was
head of the Channel Islands' Portfolio Management Division, which
had funds under management of US$ 2.5 billion. He was also a member
of Kleinwort Benson's London Private Bank Investment Committee,
which formulated investment strategy for both the onshore and
offshore businesses with combined funds under management of US$ 9
billion. In addition Andrew was Fund Manager of the Lipper award
winning Dresdner Private Banking Strategic Investment Fund. Andrew
started his career in 1987 at Morgan Grenfell (which became part of
the Deutsche Bank Group) where after 7 years he left to join
Kleinwort Benson. He has been recognised in the City wealth Leaders
List in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011 and is also a member of
the Retained Global Speaker programme for the CFA Society.
Jassim Alseddiqi, Non-Executive Director and Chief Executive
Officer of ADCM
Jassim is the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Capital
Management (ADCM), an alternative investment platform he started
building in January 2011. ADCM has since raised substantial funds
from institutions worldwide and invested in opportunistic
investments across different regions. Under his leadership, ADCM
generated solid returns for its investors during turbulent times
and its activities have gained global attention.
Jassim was previously Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi
Capital Group, managing global assets including Public Equities,
Hedge Funds, Fixed Income, Private Equity and Real Estate.
Jassim played an integral part in establishing several reputed
financial services firms in the UAE, and was instrumental in
setting up Al Nahda Investments, Reem Finance, and Essdar
Capital."
Jassim is a sought after resource for private equity investments
and deal sourcing in the region.
Jassim received his Masters of Science degree in Electrical
Engineering from the Cornell University, and has several
publications in international engineering journals
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of
any offer to buy the shares of Qannas Investments Limited (the
"Fund" and such shares, the "Securities") in the United States,
Australia, Canada, Japan or in any other jurisdiction where such
offer or sale would be unlawful.