NBK Capital Partners, an alternative investments firm that leads flexible growth capital investments in mid-sized companies in the Middle East, North Africa (Mena) and Turkey, has announced the successful first closing of a real estate fund with $75 million in fund commitments, raised primarily from prominent regional institutions, pension funds, family offices and HNWIs (high net worth individuals).

DIFC-based NBK Capital Partners – which has advised on investments exceeding $1billion – is aggregating a portfolio of Shari’a-compliant real estate assets acquired primarily through sale-leaseback transactions across the logistics, healthcare and education sectors.

It aims to capitalise on attractive underlying market dynamics such as the rise of e-commerce and regional demographic trends driving demand for healthcare and education.

The firm is targeting a final closing for the fund by the end of 2018, with $150 million in total commitments and $50 million in co-investment commitments.

NBK Capital Partners Real Estate Fund I’s first investment is a $95 million state-of-the-art K-12 education campus in Dubai, UAE, long-leased to an international curriculum school.

Yaser Moustafa, the senior managing director at NBK Capital Partners, said: "This all-weather conservative fund focuses on income-generating assets in non-cyclical sectors and is designed to provide strong and stable returns for our investors."

"The aim is to build on our successful track record, now totalling 17 profitable exits from 29 investments, the highest number by an alternative investments firm in the region over the past decade," he noted.

“The successful first closing of NBK Capital Partners Real Estate Fund I, along with our established private equity and private credit funds, further cements our position as the leading arranger of growth capital in the region,” he added.

The firm’s real estate platform is led by Mohamed Ali along with a team possessing extensive GCC experience and a track record of delivering robust returns, while Ziad Nasr heads the firm’s business development activities.

NBK Capital Partners said the real estate team has deep expertise, one of the longest track records in the region, having managed over $500 million in investments with no losses. They follow a consistent investment strategy targeting recurring yield from existing assets long-leased to blue-chip corporates.  

In January 2018, NBK Capital Partners – the alternative investments arm of NBK Capital – successfully exited its inaugural $157 million private debt vehicle, NBK Capital Mezzanine Fund I, which ranks among the top performing private debt funds in its vintage year.

In 2017, it raised $160 million for NBK Capital Partners Mezzanine Fund II backed by strong demand from a broad base of regional investors.-TradeArabia News Service