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Dubai investor has $3.5bn AUM
Wants to double US value
Interview with CEO
Gulf Islamic Investments, Dubai’s financial services company which has more than $3.5 billion of assets under management, is aiming to more than double the value of its business in the United States.
GII’s US assets total $750 million and include an 80 percent share in ZSpace, a virtual reality education technology company with a market capitalisation of $222 million.
Since selling shares to the public and listing on the Nasdaq in December, shares in ZSpace have almost doubled from the $5 offer price to $9.72.
“In order for us to get bigger deals, especially in the private equity-private debt world, we need to grow in the US,” Mohammed Alhassan, a founding partner and co-CEO of GII, told AGBI in Dubai this week.
“We are exploring different kinds of transactions (in the US) that we believe will offer opportunities for our investors,” he said, without giving details.
GII operates according to Islamic sharia law, two fundamental principles of which are the sharing of profit and loss, and the prohibition of the collection and payment of interest by lenders and investors.
The industry is growing, attracting wealthy Gulf Arab investors who want to deploy their money locally and internationally.
GII, which invests primarily on behalf of Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds, family offices and other institutions, wants to double its US assets to $1.5 billion within four years, Alhassan said, led by its Saudi unit.
The company is hoping it can benefit from the increasingly close relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has pledged to invest or trade in the US to the value of $600 billion over the four-year term of President Donald Trump. Trump has challenged the kingdom to raise that to $1 trillion over the period.
Alhassan said that GII’s plans to grow its assets in the US predate Trump’s election but “it’s good timing”, he said. Talks between the Trump administration and the Saudi government may increase Saudi investor interest in the US, he said.
GII is also investing at home, in the world’s largest oil producing region. Last year, $250 million went into Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy.
Alhassan expected to at least match that number this year, with investments there – and in the neighbouring UAE – focused on industries such as healthcare, education and manufacturing.
Overall, GII’s aim is to double or more its assets under management to between $6 billion and $8 billion by 2028, Alhassan said.
