Investcorp is a global manager of
alternative investment
An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset or alternative investment fund (AIF), is an investment in any Asset classes, asset class excluding capital stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, and cash.
The term is a relatively loose ...
products, for private and institutional clients. Founded in
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
in 1982, the firm has offices in
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. Investcorp's principal client base is in the six countries of the
Gulf Cooperation Council
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...
, but it also has a growing base of institutional clients in North America, Europe, and Asia.
The group's biggest external shareholder is Mubadala Investment Company, a $229 billion Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, which has a stake of 20 percent.
The company's main activities include
private equity
Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
,
real estate, and
credit management Credit management is the process of granting credit, setting the terms on which it is granted, recovering this credit when it is due, and ensuring compliance with company credit policy, among other credit related functions. This task is often perfor ...
, and has $50 billion
worth of
assets under management
In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...
, as of April 2023.
Investcorp has 7 asset classes which include private equity, real estate, credit, absolute return strategies, GP stakes, infrastructure, and insurance asset management.
History
The company was co-founded in 1982 by
Nemir Kirdar
Nemir Amin Kirdar (28 October 1936 – 8 June 2020) was an Iraqi Iraqi Turkmen, Turkmen banker, billionaire, businessman, financier and author. As a founding father of private equity, and an economic and cultural bridge-builder, he was the found ...
,
Elias Hallak, Savio Tung, Mike Merritt, and Cem Cesmig and acquired Tiffany & Co in 1984, floating in 1987.
In 1988,
Maurizio Gucci
Maurizio Gucci (26 September 1948 – 27 March 1995) was an Italian businessman and the one-time head of the Gucci fashion house. He was the son of actor Rodolfo Gucci, and grandson of the company's founder Guccio Gucci. On 27 March 1995, he wa ...
sold almost 47.8% of
Gucci
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
to Investcorp, and withheld the other 50% until 1993.
The company diversified in 1997 into hedge funds. Kirdar stepped down as CEO and executive chairman in 2015.
With Kirdar resigning,
Mohammad Alardhi became the Executive Chairman of the company.
The changes also involved an update to the business model, which is now focused on raising funds, raising institutional capital, and diversifying strategies further.
Investcorp made several acquisitions between 2016 and 2019, pushing into China with investments into tech and the food sector. In 2019, the company also pushed into the US market with the acquisition of Mercury Capital, which ceased operations in late 2024 "due to the very challenging capital raising environment". Investcorp's portfolio company, Moneybookers, ended its relationship with
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...
in August 2010.
The company was regulated in Bahrain as a
wholesale bank until 2019, when it voluntarily surrendered its wholesale banking license. It remained listed on the
Bahrain Bourse
The Bahrain Bourse, also called the Bahrain Stock Exchange (BSE), is the stock exchange of Bahrain. As at 2017, 42 companies were listed on the exchange. The exchange operates from Sunday to Thursday. Three indices track the Bahrain Bourse (BHB) ...
(BSE) for four decades until 2021, when it delisted itself as a result of low trading volumes.
In May 2025, Investcorp completed its exist from Indian value-fashion retailer Citykart, selling its entire stake to TPG NewQuest and A91 Partners.
Investment areas
Private equity
Investcorp's traditional activity is private equity. This includes mid-size companies in North America, Western Europe and MENA including Turkey, as well as technology lower mid-cap investment, through Investcorp Technology Partners.
The past and present portfolio includes over 175 investments. Selected past investments include:
*
Tiffany & Co. retailers of jewelry and luxury goods acquired 1984, floated 1987
*
Gucci
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...
designer, producer and distributor of luxury accessories and apparel acquired from 1989 to 1993, floated 1996
*
Leica Geosystems
Leica Geosystems (formerly known as Wild Heerbrugg or just Wild) based in eastern Switzerland produces products and systems for surveying and geographical measurement ( geomatics). Its products employ a variety of technologies including GPS ...
measuring instrument manufacturer acquired 1998, floated 2000
*
Circle K
Circle K Stores, Inc. is a Canadian-American chain of convenience stores headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard, Alimentation Couche-Tard, Inc., based in Laval, Quebec. Founded in 1951 in El Paso, Texas, the comp ...
chain of convenience storesacquired 1993, sold 1996
*
Jostens
Jostens Inc. is an American manufacturer of memorabilia. The company is primarily known for its production of yearbooks, academic regalia, and class rings for various high schools and colleges as well as championship rings for sports. For over 5 ...
US provider of school-related affinity productsacquired 2000, sold 2003
* Neptune Technology Group US manufacturer of water metersacquired 2001, sold 2003
* MW Manufacturers a US maker of windows and patio doorsacquired 2002, sold 2004
* Hilding Anders European mattress and bed manufactureracquired 2003, sold 2006
* Apcoa European parking management providersacquired 2004, sold 2007
*
American Tire Distributors
American Tire Distributors (ATD) is one of the largest independent suppliers of tires to the replacement tire market. It operates more than 115 distribution centers serving approximately 80,000 customers across the U.S. The company offers an unsu ...
the largest US independent tire distributoracquired in 2005, sold in 2010
* Moody International international provider of quality and safety servicesacquired 2007, sold 2011
* FleetPride North America's largest distributor of truck and trailer partsacquired 2006, sold 2012
* ProUnlimitedUnited States–based software and services firmacquired in 2014 jointly by InvestCorp & Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company.
*
Corneliani – Italian luxury brand in June 2016
* Denmark-based online marketplace for professional services acquired 2017
*AviraGermany-based cybersecurity companyacquired 2020, sold to
NortonLifeLock
Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation and NortonLifeLock Inc.) is a multinational software company co-headquartered in both Prague, Czech Republic (European Union, EU) and Tempe, Arizona (United States, USA). The company provides comp ...
in 2021
*
United Talent Agency
United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. ...
– global talent and entertainment company – acquired 2018, sold 2022
*
Dainese – competitive motorcycling racing wear – acquired 2017
* Sonos Group, provider of specialized clinical trial services to the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry – acquired 2020
* XpressBees, end-to-end e-commerce logistics platform in India – acquired 2020
*
FreshToHome, one of the world's largest fully integrated online brands in fresh fish and meat – acquired 2020
* Fortune International, specialty distributor of seafood and gourmet food products – acquired 2020
* RESA Power, provider of power services that enhances the safety, reliability, and efficiency of electric power systems – acquired 2021
* CloudCare, Italian tech-enabled digital sales and markets solutions platform – acquired 2021
* Marble Point Credit, US specialist asset manager focused exclusively on managing CLOs (collateralised loan obligation) and portfolios of broadly syndicated leveraged loans – acquired 2022
Real estate investment
The real estate division based in New York and London, sources and performs
due diligence
Due diligence is the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party or an act with a certain standard of care.
Due diligence ...
, and arranges financing and the acquisition of US and European properties and US commercial mortgage debt positions. The investment in these properties or loans is typically aggregated into a series of multi-investment portfolios for placement to clients. Debt investments are also made within a series of debt funds which are managed by the group. Since 1996, Investcorp has acquired over 1,000 properties for a total value of approximately $23billion. Investcorp is among the top-10 largest cross-border buyers and sellers of US real estate.
Hedge funds
Established in 1996, Investcorp's hedge fund business grew to an approximate value of $3.5 billion capital under management, out of which approximately $0.2 billion is reserved for proprietary investments. The hedge fund business provides institutional investors with access to its emerging manager program, investing with and seeding early-stage managers who, according to Investcorp research, outperform larger hedge funds on a risk-adjusted basis. In 2020, Investcorp merged its hedge fund business with Tages Group, a European alternative asset management firm, creating a 50/50 joint venture.
Credit management
Investcorp Credit Management has assets under management of over $22 billion. Based in London, New York, and Singapore, they manage funds that invest primarily in senior secured corporate debt issued by mid and large-cap corporates in Western Europe and the US.
Investcorp Insurance
In October 2021, the company launched its Investcorp Insurance Solutions platform which provides investment management services to meet the unique investment needs of insurers.
References
External links
The True Story Behind The Creation Of Investcorp
{{Bahrain All Share Index
1982 establishments in Bahrain
Financial services companies established in 1982
Real estate companies of Bahrain
Investment management companies of Bahrain
Companies listed on the Bahrain Bourse
Private equity firms of the Middle East
Companies based in Manama
Asset management companies