30 June 2011 – Samena Capital, a premier investment group focused on principal investments in the Subcontinent, Asia, Middle East and North Africa, (collectively known as the SAMENA region), is pleased to announce the Initial Closing, at US$350 million, of the Samena Special Situations Fund II L.P. (SSSF II or the Fund), the successor Fund to its flagship Samena Special Situations Fund L.P. (SSSF I). The Closing comes less than two months since the Fund’s launch and reaffirms faith in Samena Capital’s collective investment value proposition from an expanded group of core investors, including some of the most prominent entrepreneurs from Asia, India and the Middle East. SSSF II has a targeted corpus of US$700 million and the company anticipates a Final Closing in 2012 as it diversifies the fund’s client base to cover a greater depth of institutional investors.
Commenting on the Initial Close of the Fund, Shirish Saraf, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samena Capital said, “I am incredibly excited by our Initial Close of US$350 million for the second Samena Special Situations Fund in just under two months thanks to the steadfast belief in our proposition from our ever-growing group of anchor investors. The size of opportunity in the SAMENA markets is important for those who have access to local expertise and cross-synergisation of business networks. Significant Interest from institutions has given us the confidence to target a Final Close of US$700 million, raising considerable assets to deploy in the many value creation opportunities in the region.”
SSSF II will follow a similar approach to SSSF I and operate through a seven year close-ended private equity style structure, leveraging the collective acumen of Samena Capital’s shareholders and seasoned investment team. This structure allows the Fund to build strong minority stakes in listed companies that are stable mature businesses with high caliber management that can benefit from access to the broader opportunities that Samena Capital provides.
Samena Capital was established in 2008 by some of the most prominent valuepreneurs from the SAMENA region and is today uniquely capitalized with equity of US$100 million. The founding shareholders have created prominent global businesses over the last decade and comprise some of the most influential businessmen, deal- makers, corporate leaders and asset management professionals. The core philosophy of its collective investment model is to bring together first generation valuepreneurs from the SAMENA region as shareholders and harness the synergies that emerge by combining their intellectual capital with the unrivalled track record of its management team. Samena Capital currently manages total capital commitments in excess of US$700 million across a range of close-ended fund structures and has regulated investments advisors in London (FSA; FII license) and Hong Kong (SFC) and a research presence in the Kingdom of Bahrain.