A leading African private equity firm, Citadel Capital (www.citadelcapital.com) based in Cairo, says change in Egypt in brings “very compelling opportunities for long-term private equity investors in Egypt and beyond.” However it warned in a press release on 3 February: “The situation on the ground in Egypt remains fluid. Events of the past week may have a short-term impact on both our investment and divestiture plans.”
Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA on the Egyptian Exchange www.egyptse.com), has US$ 8.6 billion in investments under control, according to its website. It also has offices in Algeria. It confirmed that none of the staff in Egypt or 13 other nations where it invests had come to harm during the disturbances. It was due to resume full operations in Egypt from 6 February and operations in other nations were not interrupted.
According to the release: “In the long term, however, Citadel Capital believes that this difficult period will result in a more stable and faster-growing Egypt and region. These opportunities are underpinned by a large, young and increasingly talented workforce; by cost-factor advantages in energy and labor; by an abundance of raw materials; by proximity to major global export markets; and, not least, by consumer markets that include some 400 million Arabs and more than 1 billion Africans.
“We hope, going forward, that these opportunities will be further underpinned by greater democracy and accelerated reforms.
The company builds regional platforms in select industries through acquisitions, turnarounds, and greenfields investments executed via Opportunity-Specific Funds. It has 19 OSFs which control “platform companies” with investments worth more than US$ 8.6 billion in 14 countries spanning 15 industries, including mining, cement, transportation, food and energy. According to its website, Citadel Capital has generated more than US$ 2.5 billion in cash returns to its co-investors and shareholders (on investments of US$ 650 million) since 2004, more than any other private equity firm in the region. It is the largest private equity firm in Africa by private equity assets under management (2005-2010, as ranked by Private Equity International).