Bahrain-based Investcorp has raised $620 million for its first private equity fund for investors outside the Gulf  region, the investment bank said.

Investcorp specialises in raising cash in the world's top oil exporting region for investments in Europe and North America.

The Investcorp Private Equity 2007 Fund was the first to be raised entirely outside the Gulf, an Investcorp spokesman said.

Investcorp intends to use the fund for acquisitions in North America and Europe. It will make three to five transactions per year that could be worth more than $1 billion, Investcorp said.

In March, Investcorp Chief Executive Nemir Kirdar said the percentage of the investment bank's assets originating from the West had grown to 8 per cent from nothing two years ago, and that he could see this increasing in future.

Investcorp manages $10 billion of assets. Reuters