Waha Capital to invest $1bn in Middle East energy sector

17/04/2015 10:27 AST

The Abu Dhabi investment company Waha Capital plans to invest more than US$1 billion in energy and other assets in the UAE and wider Arabian Gulf region, its chairman said.

"We are going to focus on the energy sector," said Hussain Al Nowais.

"We believe the energy sector has some very interesting opportunities in the UAE and the Gulf, and we are looking at the power sector, [and] oil and gas services sector."

"We are evaluating deals," he added.

He declined to say how many deals Waha would strike this year.

The company is also looking at launching a credit fund, he said.

Waha posted a fourth quarter net profit of Dh142 million, an 88 per cent increase from Dh75.6m in 2013, as the company reaped dividends from its holding in the New York-listed airline leasing company AerCap.

Waha set up a new unit last May to drive its future investments in the energy sector across the Middle East and North Africa.

It invested Dh274m in a 20 per cent stake in the Dubai-based oil and gas company National Petroleum Services .

Waha also has a 25 per cent stake in Dunia Finance, a UAE consumer finance company.

The Abu Dhabi-listed company has also co-founded the $300m Mena Infrastructure Fund, in which it has a 17.9 per cent limited partner investment.

Limited partners take no part in the management of a fund

The fund's other co-sponsors are the Dubai-based Islamic investment company Fajr Capital and HSBC Bank Middle East.

The fund is invested in four projects - Alexandria International Container Terminals in Egypt, Qurayyah Independent Power Project in Saudi Arabia, and United Power Company and Sohar Power Company in Oman.

The National